A New Saga
by Col.Foley
Summary: Galen Zaun, Jedi Master, is assigned a mission to a distant part of space. This mission sets off a series of events and adventures that will lead the Newest Galactic government to the precipice of War.
1. Prologue

_**A/N: These stories are based on an RP game that I have played for the last several years with various numbers of my friends. Just in case any of them actually reads these and recognizes the basic characters and plots. A lot of it has been changed from that original concept, characters, and a lot of the minor plot points and 'games' I have changed to be better for these fics. For example no Sentient Pumpkin heads that can control your mind. And while you may think that the title is cliché it is nothing compared to what I started with. I do not own the Star Wars Universe or anything to do with it, just a couple of cats, and while I hope that these may get turned into actual novels one day, I ain't holding my breath. So as all things begin, A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away. **_

_*******_

_Star Wars, a New Saga…._

_One thousand Years have passed since the Vong Wars and a New Republic has risen from the ashes of the old, bringing peace and justice to the Galaxy. _

_But that peace is a fragile one, over the last couple hundred years the first INTER GALACTIC HYPERDRIVE allows the Republic to explore distant galaxies. A Galaxy of conflict and struggle, which the Republic has unified much of its outer rim. _

_But over the last several months ATTACKS have been occurring throughout _

_the region, leaving the Republic confused at the mysterious invader. _

_The JEDI ORDER return GALEN ZAUN to the Jedi Temple in order to discuss the new threat, and what to do about it….._


	2. The Assignment That Changes History

Galen Zaun marched down the hallway of the Jedi Temple, curious as to why he was called to meet personally with the Council.

Sunlight was streaming in the windows, casting long sheathes of light on the floor, met by even longer shadows stretching out from the early morning light. The darkness and the light, so contrasted.

Galen shook his head clear of the thought as he moved forward.

He was trying not to speed to his destination. Other Jedi were throughout the area and they were not hurrying. They were moving slowly and serenely, talking idly to themselves or just enjoying the sunlight. Men, Women, and assorted sentient species.

He reached the end of the hall way and a young woman was leaning against the wall, her hip jutted out to one side as she studied a file before her. Her hair came down covering one of her eyes, deep brown. She could not have been more then eighteen years of age.

She noticed him and nodded at him, he nodded back.

He made the last couple of steps to the turbo lift in a rush, and then waved his hand across the door controls. It did not work, the door was still unmoving before him. He scowled at the control and then added a bit of force power as he waved again, the door popped open with a whoosh of air and gears.

He entered.

The door closed and he went shooting up all the way to the top of the Jedi Temple. He started to tap his foot impatiently on the floor as he was a bit nervous at being summoned before the Jedi Council like this.

He arrived, he twisted around moving to face the door, and composed himself in a more formal posture as he marched out, the door parting before him.

He met face to face with the twelve Councilors. Some looked bored, some looked interested, and some looked impassive.

But the Force Energy in the room positively crackled in the air, revealing that the twelve Masters were tense and on edge, despite their outward expressions.

"So glad that you could join us, Master Zaun." The Grand Master of the Order said from his seat in the middle of the group.

Galen bowed deeply despite the veiled insult.

"I was summoned before this body." He said simply, glancing sideways at each one of the Masters in turn, they were staring at him curiously.

"I would assume that you know of the threat that is going on in the distant Galaxy?" One of the order, to the Grand Masters direct right, said darkly.

"I am aware." Galen Zaun said, feeling stupid that the thought did not occur to him before.

"We want to send you on a mission, to investigate and eliminate the threat." The youngest of the group, a woman, said on the absolute left of the group.

"Me? Why?" Galen said in slight surprise.

"Because five Jedi have been killed in the attacks." The Master of the right said, then continued "and of all the Jedi currently here, you have spent the most time in that Galaxy."

"And a force sensitive involved, the council suspects."

"Interesting. A Sith?" Galen said, his mouth quirking in slight amusement at the thought.

"If that is the case, then ascertain it, we must." The Grand Master said gravely.

Galen bowed intending to leave.

But he was stopped, "Your mission is to ascertain the exact nature of the threat, use any means at your disposal, talk to any towns person, any lord, and anyone in the New Territories. Use any means in your task, if the threat is too great summon the local Master and he will send you all the reinforcement that you require to meet the threat. This is of gravest matter to the Jedi."

Galen bowed and left.

"What do you think?" The second master said.

"Dark and dangerous this could be. Galen Zaun's mission could be of the gravest importance to our order. Lead to war, this could." The Grand Master said.

The Council shifted uncomfortably in their plush seats, not wanting to fight another war after nearly three hundred years of peace. The thought of war terrified them.

_Jedi Starfighter Docking Bay_

Galen Zaun arrived in the tall hangar bay that housed the Order's many kinds of Star Fighters. He looked around the room, the hangar doors were open and the sun was pouring into the room. Few Jedi was here, and most of those were working on their star fighters. Being mechanics and performing routine checks.

He arrived at his personal bird, and found a young Duros waiting for him.

"Master Zaun." He said bowing. "Here is the information for your mission. He said handing over a datapad.

Zaun bowed and then glanced at it.

His mission was not due to start for a few days yet.

He grinned at that. He had just enough time to run home and see….her.

He shifted uncomfortably and glanced at the Duros, hoping that the young Jedi was not strong enough to penetrate his thoughts and read them.

The Duros was looking away, staring bored at the far wall.

"Thank you youngling, that was good of you. You may go."

The Duros grinned. "Thank you Master Zaun." He then skipped off.

The old Master smiled serenely after the youngling watching him go.

He then turned to his fighter, stroking its smooth, cold, and Delta surface. "Well my old friend, its time to go again, the Council has given us another mission to accomplish." He murmured quietly at it.

He then leapt up into the opening cockpit, manipulating the controls so a Tan and Yellow colored droid came down and instead itself in its hole, tweeting loudly letting the pilot know that a connection had been made.

Galen and the droid went through the pre checks of the system, making sure it was fully armed and fully fueled. It was, and he smiled satisfied putting on the head set.

He then flipped on the engines and the ship whined and then hummed, growing quieter with each passing second. Satisfied that he hit the right tempo, he released the mag gear.

The ship hovered on the deck, its rupulsorlift coils firing as it stayed there.

He twisted the control stick, and the ancient star fighter lifting off the ground and towards the open bay, speeding up through the skyline of Coruscant, and then out into space.

When he was far enough away from the planet he jumped to hyperspace, speeding towards his home world, Corellia.


	3. Reunion

Galen's fighter swept down, racing towards the orb that he off and on through the years called home.

Corellia, beautiful, majestic, Corellia. The only play in the galaxy that he would have been happy to call home.

His fighter entered the atmosphere and sliced through it, like an arrow through a firestorm. His Droid tweedled nervously, beeping and screeching in slight alarm as the outer hull temperature rapidly built up on the outer hull.

He breached the lower atmosphere and adjusted his throttle down. Bringing his fighter swooping over the plains and the mountains of his home, slowly, taking in the breathtaking sights.

He was moving at a mere four hundred and twelve kilometers an hour, low to the surface. Just barely sweeping down over the mountains as he gazed down the peaks, valleys, and rivers.

Quickly he came upon the township that he was looking for, and he adjusted the flight of his fighter accordingly. Giving the proper identification to yet another control tower as he swooped in, lessening his altitude as much as he could.

Curious pedestrians looked up at his ship, most didn't, but some recognized the noise of a star fighter so they looked up wondering what could have been violating their serene and peaceful afternoon.

He swooped down low, and moved his fighter into a hover, bringing him into his own private docking bay. His only piece of property that still remained here through the years that he had initially left.

He landed his fighter gently on the floor, and then got out, climbing rapidly down the ladder.

He smiled and nodded at the attendant that was there, but he was too busy attending to Galen's fighter to return the gesture.

Galen shook his head gently and moved on out. The sun was blinding, land speeders moved here and there, and people were giving him looks of recognition, curiosity, or refusing to make the slightest bit of eye contact.

He walked slowly down the walkway, passing the hurrying crowd moving hither and thither in their daily lives. Now that he could move quickly, he did not find the need too, he was in no rush, and it felt good to be home. If only for a little while.

He gazed back and forth at the shops lining the street side, looking for the one he wanted. When he found it he ran on over, nimbly making his way through the crowd.

He entered and a blast of cool and refreshing air greeted his senses. Nearly knocking him back, and setting all of his senses on full alert, invigorating him grandly.

Behind the desk was a man, beard was unkempt, hair was a mess, and he had on a tan colored tunic. His eyes sparkled curiously at the entrance of his new customer.

"Greetings." He said, sounding over friendly.

"Greetings, I would like to rent a land speeder." Galen said to the shop owner neutrally.

"Well you have come to the right place, actually we got in the newer ones today, replacing some of the older models." The shop owner said smiling widely, moving out from behind the desk and gesturing for Galen to join him at the rear of the shop.

He did so reluctantly.

Along the wall and on the floor were about eighteen speeders, of various types, shapes, configurations, and purposes. Few of them were identical to the any other.

Galen wanted to see and analyze them, but the Keeper sent him right on over to a specific one.

"Just got this beauty in the other day, probably exactly what you are looking for, perfect for a day, a week, all terrain." He said regarding the machine.

"How much?" Galen asked.

"Four hundred ten credits. That is with all the standard warranties and paperwork, that is per day." He said smiling, recalling the information from memory.

He then went to give all the other information on the speeder, model, type, distance it could travel, fuel tank, special features.

Galen was impressed, and went on over to the front desk to fill out the paper work. He filled it out for a day.

"If you need it for any longer here is the terminal access card, you can access it from any terminal on Corellia, just credit it to the account." He said hopefully, handing him over the card.

"That should not be necessary, but incase it is." Zaun said taking the card, being a firm believer that anything bad could happen.

He signed all the paperwork, and then went on over to cockpit, got in, and tested it out. Not paying until he made sure he was not being scammed.

He turned it on and tested the system. Satisfied he handed over the credit slip, and the keeper swiped it on through, then he gave it back.

"Thank you Mister Zaun, it was a pleasure doing business with you."

"Yes, it was." Galen smiled generously as he opened the bay door and made the easy turn onto the street.

Nearly half an hour later he was traveling up the cool mountain passes, moving up the dirt paths and turning easily.

He looked up and took in the gorgeous scenery ever now and then before he had to turn again up yet another path, twisting and turning all the way to the top. It was a task that required huge amounts of concentration.

He finally made it to the top and leapt out of the speeder, his robes billowing around him and then settled down.

He marched on over to the house.

It was tall, majestic, peaking in a pyramid at the top of it, and a cube house, large, three or four stories tall. It was perfectly contrasted with the tall blue sky, and the tall mountains in the back ground.

Tall steps led up to it, white and polished, and on them was a tall woman.

His heart caught in his chest and he stopped up short. She was tall, athletic, shapely, had a perfectly erect frame and a great physical presence about her. Her eyes were brown and sparkling, sort of sad, taking in the scene before her. Her long black hair streamed down loosely down her back, some of it blew upwards at the slight breeze that was moving throughout the area.

She caught site of him, and grinned, showing her white and shining teeth, dazzling him. Then she put a finger on her lips and regarded him with a smirk, her eyes sparkling.

He ran up to meet her, jolting up the steps. She moved to meet him, giggling and running down the many steps as well.

Her name was Arkadi. She was the daughter of the current Governor of Corellia, he had to disown her over a political scandal and left this private residence to her as some sort of twisted gift.

She met Galen years before at an official dinner and the both of them became fast friends, and then they became more then that.

She leapt the last step at him, and he caught her, crushing her to him. He planted a swift kiss on her and knew that his bristling beard sent electricity and passion racing up and down her spine.

They released.

"Galen!" She yipped happily, sounding to him like an old song, that he loved dearly, but was slowly forgetting the sound of. She sounded brand new to him, and he melted all over again. She was his only weakness, and his only strength, making him act so out of the norm.

"Arkadi" He smiled at her sweetly, kissing her again and making her blush.

"So, what is new my beloved?" She asked him, craning her neck at him slightly.

"I got a new assignment." He grinned at her, her face took a retrospective look. "Not to worry though, pretty routine, just to investigate the attacks that have been happening there. I should be back at the end of two months." He said figuring that she was simply worried about his safety.

"Oh." She said brightening. Then she became animated, smiling mischievously as they moved up the steps. "My father just signed into law an appropriations bill that is trying to end the recession spreading across the Galaxy, and save his administration." She smiled sparkling, no real love there.

"I see." Galen said simply, preferring to stay as far away from normal politics as he could, those of the Jedi Order already gave him enough of a headache.

They reached the top of the steps and she turned and placed a hand on his chest stopping him. Her face darkened and then tensed, looking at him nervously.

Galen reached out with the force and decided she was debating telling him something, he waited for her patiently.

She sighed and then spoke out, "Galen, I-I…I'm pregnant." She said.

His eyes widened perceptibly. "Pregnant?"

She nodded.

"You mean…the last time….I was…whoa." He said. He could hardly believe this. He was not ready for it, was not ready for this, and he cursed himself for a weak fool. He still had responsibilities, a job, and this new mission. But yet, there was great joy, great determination, and great doubt were fighting a positive war in his nervous system.

In the end joy won.

"This is wonderful news!" He said.

She looked relieved, and then grinned up at him. But then she sighed again.

"But your job, your life, and your responsibilities as a Jedi?" She asked.

"We will just have to work around that." He said, wrapping her in his arm, and then leading her into the house.

They entered and he was greeted by the smells of hot and rich stew, he closed his eyes and luxuring in the sensations.

They ate lightly, discussing minor affairs of state, the conversation drifting into the recession that was gripping the Galaxy, and the fact that the largest shipping company in the galaxy just went out of business, displacing hundreds of workers.

They went to the bed chamber, and fell swiftly asleep, cuddling with each other and enjoying the warmth of their bodies.

The next day he swiftly went to the shop to turn in the speeder, beating the deadline just barely.

He ran to his fighter beating the rush traffic, blasting off into outer space.

He set a course for the Capital of the Republic, and onto more adventures.


	4. History, Reflection,

Galen was sitting by one of the many terminals that was spread out through the Jedi library. He was gazing through it and flipped through the files that were on the terminal searching for the one that he wanted.

He always did this before a big mission, always buried himself in a book or a terminal and loved to reflect and review on history. And the history of the current government.

It always put things into perspective.

Especially given that he felt something, something just beyond the edge of his perception. A dark storm cloud was just over the horizon, he could not see it, could not make it out, but he knew it was there. And it made him shiver.

But he went back to the terminal and continued to skim through the files, and viewed the themes in history.

A Jedi Librarian came up behind him.

"Master Zaun, may I help you with anything?" She asked concerned.

"No I am doing fine." He smiled up at her.

She left and went back on to check on the other Knights in the room.

He sighed and then stared at the screen, until he found the file he wanted, he highlighted it and then selected it bringing it up.

Recent history was what he was focusing on.

After the New Republic was formed and fought the Vong, the Empire, and many other governments and threats over the course of nearly a century, eventually the strain was just too much.

The Government fractured and the people formed local governments. Right down to the Planetary level. Galactic government was scorned and hated by many people, there was no Jedi, or no authority on that level. A few planets formed coalitions.

Eventually Imperial Forces formed and forcibly tried to unite the Galaxy, freedom loving coalitions formed and more planets banded together to fight the threat. Until a stable Republic was reformed, and the Jedi order was recreated.

And then went back to serving the people as the guardians of peace.

Several wars, piracy and bounties broke out through the years, but eventually the Galaxy was more or less secure. As secure as it ever was.

And out of this feeling of good times came the reinvigoration project, re-colonizing many of the worlds ravaged of late, and then the inter galactic hyper drive project.

The Jedi went to the other neighboring galaxy with the Republic and found it oppressed, and divided, they came in and after wars fought, slowly started to unite it. Only just doing it if they wanted it, carving out their own niche.

That was about three hundred years ago. And since then peace mostly reined, and the Republic went to more domestic concerns, only exploring the shallow ends of the Galaxy. Not going much beyond its own outer rim.

Of course beyond that was unknown, only rumors and myths that much of the evil went there to hide and bide their time, but that was unconfirmed.

Zaun sighed to himself.

Apparently it was not such a rumor after all, something was obviously stirring, though it was not a time for supposition, but cold hard facts, he needed to find out what was going on and what was happening.

So he had to find out what it was and get to the bottom of it, assigned to by the council. And again he could not shake the feeling that this was merely the start of something. That what he was starting would change things.

And he got a pang of conscience that his son may grow up in this world.

Well it was his duty to try and head it off at the pass, and stop it before it got any worse.

And of course he was not alone in doing so. The order was stronger then it had ever been in recent history.

There were now over four thousand eight hundred and twenty seven Knights.

Two thousand two hundred eighty seven Masters. That number included the council.

Now over one thousand padawans that were currently apprenticed, and another eight hundred of them that were waiting in the wings.

And countless younglings, and other personnel throughout the order that was apart of its many centers throughout the Republic.

Though they did not have much help. They were again pretty much responsible for the peace and security of the Republic at large.

The Republic military was only a token force and the majority of its equipment, training, and tactics was over three hundred years old.

And while the Republic allowed for a Planetary Guard that was responsible for the majority of the defense of the planets. And specifically the Core Worlds like Kuat, Deneba, and a few of the others banded together and formed a military defense alliance that rivaled the fleet that was the official Military.

The few of the notable exceptions were Corellia that valued its independence and its home guard status too much. The other major system was Coruscant, who had as its protection the bulk of the Military.

However, most of the Defense Forces were parade forces. Ceremonial forces, they could not react. Most of them were not responsible for police work, most of them could not, and did not want to invade any other planet.

So they were relegated to a tourist trap, to parades, and to reenactments of battles past of the Clone Wars and the Vong Conflict. That was also the way most of them got their training.

Now the one thing that was going for the Republic and its guard was that they had massive stockpiles and reserves of firepower, supplies, and equipments, and while most of them needed to be updated they had enough to make a fight of it.

They were placed all throughout the Outer Rim in giant depots guarded by Regiments of soldiers, and other stockpiles.

The final bit of the military situation was that their plans were being constantly being updated.

Even though the Politicians had dropped the Military, the Military had not forgotten about the Politicians.

Throughout all of this though the Republic was suffering a massive recession, were many people were out of work, and Planetary economies were coming to a halt.

Even in the Core with Corellia and Kuat being the hardest hit. Corellia not because of its market policies, but because they were a heavy importer of goods.

While the Kuat Drive Yards just did not have any business with several shipping companies going out of business, and the Military moving their efforts to places like Mon Calamari, Fondor, and even Ord Mantel.

This left local governors in quite a bind and left governments all over scrambling what to do about it. Though in the event of a crisis Kuat's facilities were likely to be the first to get their military contracts back.

The only ones slightly benefiting from this was the Hutts, but even they were really feeling a pinch in some areas. Still not recovering from the last one thousand years.

This contributed to create a tense and complicated political climate that left all sectors of the Republic on edge, especially on the Outer Rim of that New Galaxy, exploration was put on hold, except for a few brave private individuals. Most of them did not make it back.

All of this could be contributing to his mission. It was easy to understand why he had an uncomfortable feeling about what was going on.

All this situation needed was a match, some people were looking for that excuse. Not to say that there was not a legitimate threat out there.

This made his mission of the gravest importance.

He checked the time code on his terminal and saw that he was running late, he logged off, got up, and then said good bye to the librarian as he left the room.

He got to the fighter bay and stroked his droid. "Well, R-9, its time for us to go."

His droid twiddled at him sadly.

He got in the fighter and ran the pre flight checks.

"This is Jedi Master Zaun to control requesting permission to take off."

"This is Control Tower Jedi, you are clear to launch, take any vector away from traffic that you want they are all clear." A thick voice said to him.

"Thank you." Master Zaun said smiling, revving his fighter up and blasting off for deep space.

_The Outer Edge of the Galaxy_

His fighter shot out of Hyperspace and swooped in to position right by the edge of the hyperspace ring. In the distance was an ore freighter parked waiting to go through one of the larger hyperspace nexuses.

This area of space was an anomaly, and thus it allowed intergalactic hyper drive. It was a combination wormhole, subspace tear, an anomaly, and it was tapped into by special Hyper Drive rings that allowed you to shoot at high speed, penetrate the energy sheath of the Galaxy, and go to any similar location in the other galaxy.

He docked with the ring, waited for it to power up, and then hit the button. He blacked out as he accelerated.


	5. A Beginning

Five days of travel brought him hurtling over the planetary surface of Kandar, a planet of the Outer Rim of the New Galaxy.

He was lucky he had hit the junction just right and shaved two days off of his trip, and then had to travel another two days to the Planet Surface.

He brought his fighter in low again, sweeping low over the surface. Peering curiously at the new sights as this was his first time visiting this planet despite countless times in the area.

He bought his fighter in gently, landing with a burst from the repulsorlift engines bouncing on the tarmac.

He got out as his droid was removed and gazed around.

The planet was a lot like Tatooine, though the sand was pink it was still everywhere, only one sun in the sky but it was a lot more imposing then his many visits to Tatooine. It was hot and not humid as he enjoyed it slightly.

He turned around to the docking bay of the joint Republic Military/ Jedi Order, part of the docking bay. There were two X-Wings docked here, and another slight pursuit fighter, and then finally a shuttle was parked in one corner of the area.

He peered at the shuttle closely and noticed that the symbol of Omega was emblazoned across it, the Republic's premier special forces organization.

Though he did not find time to ponder that fact as he felt movement behind him in the Force. He turned curiously and saw the local Master of the Jedi Order approaching him slowly.

He had on a sleeveless under piece from standard Jedi robes. His black beard and thick head of black hair contrasted sharply with his creamy skin, and intelligent blue eyes.

They finally met in the middle and the two Masters clasped hands and shook them warmly.

"Master Zaun."

"Master Skywalker." Galen grinned, his eyes sparkling friendly at his old friend.

"Enjoyed the trip?" he said as they both started walking down the center of the landing strip and made their way over to the door.

"Not really." Galen started frowning. "Being trapped in a small cockpit for five days is not an enjoyable time."

"I see." Mikal Skywalker said simply. He then frowned. "I must admit that despite my pleasure at seeing you again I must confess myself frustrated at your being here."

"I know." Zaun said uncomfortable.

"I mean it is my jurisdiction, I was put here after the Jedi refused to make me a permanent member of the council. Like I would have taken the position anyways." He smiled lopsidedly. "But they still see fit to send you out here."

"I know." Zaun said pausing in the doorway. "It is your purview, but I guess they figured that you needed the help."

"My butt" Skywalker said grinning. "They just do not like me much. They just sent me out of the way, in a position that no longer means anything since the Republic only maintains a limited presence here. Which is something I am thankful for, but when something happens that really requires their attention they send someone out here. And they send you, the only Master with the experience and who is expendable."

"I suppose." Zaun said frowning, preferring not to comment.

"But still, we should really get to business." He said.

They walked to the lift and took it up to Master Skywalker's personal office.

When they arrived through it and entered the plush office a Republic First Sergeant snapped to attention.

"It's the only thing they could spare for me, an aide, considering I am the leading and ranking Jedi official here." Skywalker said gesturing. "Thank you Sergeant that will be all."

"Sir." The man snapped to attention again and then quietly slid back through the door.

Master Skywalker had simulated Kashyyyk-wood desk and planted himself behind it, picking up a file folder of papers and leafing through it.

"Still using paper?" Galen smirked wryly.

"Yes, I am." Master Skywalker smiled lopsidedly back.

He went back to reading it as Galen sat down in the desk in front of him.

"Well, there so far have been five attacks on five different planets against Jedi, three Knights, two Padawans and a Master. That Master was not here officially. The attacks have been following a line of attack, striking one planet after another after another, and we are the next on the list."

Galen's eye brows shot up appreciably. "How many Jedi are here?"

"Including you?" Skywalker asked arching an eyebrow at him, "Five, four of them on official mission."

"I see." Zaun said feeling relieved. "Well then I guess I should start here." Zaun said thumping the sides of the chair.

"You should? Why not the other planet?" Skywalker said genuinely hoping to hear the answer.

"While I could get new perspective and gain leads, likely by the time I finished another Jedi would be dead here, better to head him off and try to prevent that. Also I would assume that you have started your own investigation?"

"We have." Master Skywalker said with a bow.

"Anything else you can tell me?"

"Well he seems to strike isolated pockets, and not groups of Jedi, either separating one, or striking at those already on solo missions."

"Any here like that?"

"Four of the Jedi are in this city, and are in constant contact with one another. If they died, the rest of us should know about it. Even if this thing can limit Force sense. One though is in a town about one thousand kilometers North of here, investigating a crime syndicate that is 'rumored' to have taken over it. He is pretty much on his own."

"Well then that is where I must go." Galen said with a bow. "Can you provide me with transportation?"

"Yes. Sergeant!" Master Skywalker said raising his voice.

Without barely missing a beat the young Sergeant came in unruffled. "Sir?" He said.

"Provide Master Zaun here with our best available land speeder, also refuel and put a guard on his fighter."

"Yes sir." The man said, leaving.

"May the Force be with you." Mikal told his friend.

"Thank you." Zaun said with a bow following the young sergeant out.

_One Thousand Kilometers North_

Galen Zaun hid behind the only foliage around, a pair of bushes and rocks that could hide his speeder from view. He moved at a rapid pace behind the town and then into it.

It was a simple Desert side town. A Main Street with a few side boulevards along the side leading to shops.

Sand colored domes and shacks were along the streets, representing shops. Few people were around given the fact that a cold wind was blowing down hard, kicking up sand and causing Zaun's robe to billow around him.

He used the force to keep the sand out of his eyes.

He went to one of the shops that did not have an in area, he was selling rare liquors.

"Greetings." he said friendly.

"Greetings Master Jedi." The shop owner said surprised.

"So you know what we are?" Zaun said testing out the waters.

"Yes, I do. I cannot say you people are popular around here, most of us cannot stand the site of a Jedi, as for me I am just trying to make a living."

"I see, so we are not liked?" He asked.

"You are tolerated, as long as we stay out of each others hair, most of us are not bad people."

"I did not say that you were. Anyone threatening the Jedi here, looking at him, watching him?"

"No," the man chuckled, "well no one specifically, everyone is at least curious of the arrival, looking at him."

"Any new arrivals?" Zaun said pressing, staying mindful of the Force.

"No, no new arrivals that I have noticed." The man said, Zaun picked up a twinge in the force, pressed it, but ignored it, there was a blank spot.

"Thank you for your time." Zaun said nodding friendly.

He went into a salon out of the sun and the blowing sand storm, heading into a dust filled environment that tinted its environment.

Various Aliens, humans, and this Galaxy's equivalent stared at him curiously before going back to their business. Some conspiratorially and some staring guiltily at their feet.

He wanted to be in here for cover, he went out and felt through the force and felt the perceptions without distraction.

He made contact with the other Jedi here, and he felt…tense.

Zaun probed his perceptions.

The man he was reaching felt panicked running, Zaun knew there was something wrong.

A spike of fear and terror, and then nothing.

Galen's eyes snapped open and he ran back out into the street. He closed his eyes and let the sand slam into his face stinging him, causing some blood to be even drawn, but he needed to concentrate.

He could not feel the presence of the Jedi anymore, only an echo. He ran out into the street heading for it, he paused a traveler.

"Is there any place out of the way that is a criminal hideout?" He asked.

"Bagger's drift, about that way a ways." The Pedestrian said, pointing in shock.

Galen ran that way, at full speed, using the force to invigorate him.

He passed groups of people that was looking at him curiously as he ran.

He finally got to the indicated location, and in it was a Jedi sprawled up, his lifeless eyes looking skyward.

Galen closed his eyes and grimaced , then looked at the rock location that he was surrounded in.

Galen jogged over to him and observed the body, clearly dead, and clearly did not have enough time to prepare himself to become one with the force.

Galen crouched down, and carefully examined the body, no obvious signs of injury.

Until he got to the neck.

His eyes widened in shock at what it was. A cauterized burn running across the neck, precise, and clear, keeping the head on. Only a lightsaber could have made that cut.

He ran, this time sacrificing endurance for pure speed.

He got to his speeder and leapt on into it, and he tried to turn it on. It sputtered and was unsuccessful. He tired again…sabotaged.

He got out with a sigh, wondering how he was going to get back to his base.


	6. On The Hunt

Galen Zaun got out of the land speeder and bowed slightly to the confused drivers that took him there, he paid them richly, and then turned to look at the bustling city.

Time was of the essence, he had to make sure that the murderer did not escape.

He gazed out into the sunlight and searched the crowd, nothing.

He pushed his way through the crowd, the land speeders, and the hover bikes. He stretched out with the Force and took in all the perceptions. Hunting, becoming one, pushing his way through the crowd in a half blind stupor.

Half of him wondered if he should make his way to Skywalker.

He dismissed the thought, there was not enough time, and time was the only commodity that he did not have in great abundance.

He stopped, caught his breath for a second and grabbed his knees. They hurt, expert lightsaber dueler he may have been, physical he was not.

He made a note of that, if he were to be a better Jedi he would need to be a better hunter in all respects.

And to add onto that his face also was still sore from the sand storm, and small droplets of blood were beginning to coat his beard, he needed medical attention. But again time was working against him.

Most of the people on the streets were peering at him with mixtures of anger and curiosity, he wanted to sooth them with the Force, but decided that would not have been the best considering any sign of manipulation would not have gone over well with the crowd in their current mood.

Still he was in his element, his element as a Sentinel. Feeling out with the Force with all its perceptions and hunting a target. This was something that Jedi did not get a lot of experience in doing these days, always focused on meditation.

Not him.

But he was still out of shape, not ready for so much physical activity.

But he had no choice in the matter.

With a sigh he made his way over to the fighter bay and went up to Master Skywalker's tower.

The Master was not there, but the First Sergeant was.

"Sir?" He said startled.

"Seal off all the exits, get ready to move, we may not have much time but a killer is here."

"The other Jedi?" The Sergeant said somberly.

"Yeah, he is dead. Ensure that no one leaves, I do not care what excuse you have to use but make sure that no ship leaves. Then start a search, I will be there in the meantime." Zaun said and then ran off, his robes billowing in his wake.

"Sir." The Sergeant said also running off to his control room.

Galen Zaun then made his way over to his fighter and got into it, he checked the scanner logs, and satisfied at what he saw he got out of the fighter and ran off in another direction.

He was satisfied at what he saw as the local police appeared in the bay. He was accompanied by two Republic soldiers with Rifles at the ready.

The Police Chief made his way over to him. "Master Jedi, we have sealed off the area and are making our sweeps now."

"Very good, you have my thanks." Zaun said running off.

Along one of the structural catwalks for the station a dark cloaked figure observed this and scowled, he glared at his prey, and sent a wave through the Force.

Galen Zaun felt a twinge in the back of his mind and looked around startled, then smiled to himself. His prey knew that he was being hunted and as any prey would go to ground.

"Any area around here that is abandoned?"

"At this time of the day the East City, it is mostly residential but people have started their work day by now." The Police Chief said.

"Interesting, how far is it?"

"Not that far, I can take you if you like."

"No thanks I am fine."

Galen then moved off, the thought that this might be what The Nemesis wanted did not occur to him till he was well away from the hangar.

_East City_

He arrived, and it was deathly quiet. Except for some music in the background, clearly some people were off from work and enjoying themselves.

He felt out with the Force, and sensed a Dark and Foreboding presence. He swished his robes out of the way and revealed his lightsaber dangling, giving him easy access to it in the event that he needed it.

No shop owned to interrogate, no one to see, just the feeling that he was being watched.

He darted this way and that, trying to find what cover he could from shadows, pillars, and out of the way doors. He did not know a thing about his prey, not in the least.

His mind wandered, this could have been his last day in the world. He could leave Arkadi all alone, and the thought of that terrified him, urged him to put all of his senses on fire.

He knew that he was not alone.

He looked at all the roofs. Nothing. Looked in all the corners. Nothing. He searched out with the Force. Only a feeling remained, the deep dark feeling of despair. He tried to push that out of his mind but felt that he could not, it was as though it was a part of the Force itself.

Even all of his learning on the long lost Sith could not have indicated to him that this was what was going to happen.

Death was here, Death was coming.

He leapt up to the highest point of the city, and then observed it, looking, trying to find the person that he sought.

He knew he was being played with, knew that he was hunting, and knew that he was hunted.

He climbed down a flight of stairs, and saw a group of life forms were playing a card game, he cleared his throat nervously as they peered blearily at him, smoke from their pipes was clouding his vision.

He cleared his throat again and then moved on out back into the sunlight.

And there he was, standing there, feet planted out to the sides, arms held out in a cocky stance, egging Galen on.

Galen peered at his target.

His target peered back.

"How cliché can you get?" Galen blurted out, reacting to the dark cloak and the hood.

His opponent smiled back at him cockily. Of course Galen could not detect the smile, but he could feel it.

"I am Galen Zaun," Zaun said, sweeping out his lightsaber and holding it at the ready. "You are guilty of attacking the Jedi order."

"Don't you want to learn my name first?" The figure said.

"That would be nice." Galen said sarcastically.

"My name is Death, and it is time for you to join your brethren."

"Death? That is quite a name."

"It is, and fitting, since I will be the last contact you will have with a sentient being."

"Somehow I doubt that." Galen said confidently.

"Really? You do? Don't worry, I am sure your pregnant girl friend will not miss you too much."

Galen's eyes widened in shock, but he cleared them.

His opponent removed his hood revealing a rugged and handsome face, with brown hair, he was wearing a cocky and confident smile.

He swished his cloak out of the way revealing a leg holster for his weapon, which he got out with a sound of leather scraping on leather. "Well shall we begin?" He asked.

"We shall."

Death turned his lightsaber on with a snap of the activation plate, the blade hummed into existence, deep dark blood red was its color, he swung it down from left to right and then put it in a two handed grip.

Galen too got his light saber out and activated it. Its blade was solid green, almost being drained out in the harsh sunlight, but he just barely make it out.

He held it high above his head pointing skyward, using the Form V stance that he knew so well. Getting into a comfortable position, setting his legs hard in the ground.

His opponent smiled predatorily again, and then began to circle in a wide arc, holding his blade in his right hand, blade pointing face down, almost touching the sand.

Galen placed his active saber in his right hand out, facing his opponent, he placed his other hand palm facing the enemy in order to counteract any force attacks.

Death's grin only got more feral and predatory, Galen could swear he made out fangs in the mostly human features. His eyes changing colors to suit his current aggressive mood.

All Galen did was calmed his mind, and got ready for the storm.

With a feral yell Death leapt, looping in the air, bringing his lightsaber in arching from up high.

Galen's eyes widened but he instinctively put his lightsaber in both of his hands, and held the pommel up by his chest, blocking his opponent's attack just barely in front of his eyes.

He pushed his blade up, bringing it up to about to his nose, the pommel facing outward and crossing with the other saber.

The two lightsabers flashed and crackled in the air with energy.

Their duel had begun.


	7. The duel

Galen was in the middle of the storm.

Death was a whirlwind of slashes, cuts, strikes, and blows, twirling in and spinning from all sides, striking with amazing intensity and precision.

Galen fought back with everything he had in him.

He parried and thrust, and counter slashed, his lightsaber a twirling arch of green energy.

He counterattacked where he could, swinging from up high and down low, trying to get his opponent to stop his relentless attack.

Galen Zaun could not achieve that, his opponent was impregnable.

He summoned a blast of Force Energy and knocked his opponent back.

Death placed his hands in his side and then shoved back.

Galen flew through the air, surprised at the strength of his opponent.

He used the Force and straightened himself out like a arrow as he crashed into a window. Glass went everywhere, exploding out from the impact point, and cutting his face and his arms, drawing blood.

He could make out a half naked Twi'lek who just looked as though she got out of a shower, she turned around startled at him, and he smiled at the scene as he flew out the other window.

He fell down in the sand, his elbows being raked by the pebbles, he got up to his heals just in time to hear a loud yell of rage from over head. He looked up and saw Death hurtling at him, lightsaber pointing down as he leapt from the rooftop.

Galen rolled in the sand and out of the way, just barely, deactivating his lightsaber and then reactivating it as Death swung at him pressing his attack.

Galen bought the pommel up to about the left side of his chest, just barely blocking the blow.

Galen grimaced as the two of them pushed on one another, his own blade was almost at his elbow threatening to cut it off. Galen gritted his teeth and summoned all of his power and pushed back.

Death was knocked back and Galen twirled out of the way.

Bringing his saber up into a guard position.

He was so poorly trained for this. In Form III, even though he knew how to use it, he was by no means an expert. He relied too heavily on Form V, and it was costing him.

Large beads of sweat were permeating his brow. His beard tasted of dried blood. He rejuvenated himself with the Force just before the next onslaught.

Death raised his hands up and shot at him a bolt of lightning. Galen swung his saber up diagonal from about his hip, grimacing again and closing his eyes from the sight as the lightning struck the blade, and sizzled across it.

"Most impressive, out of all the Jedi I have battled, you are by far the greatest challenge."

"I am glad I could help." Galen said, catching back up on his energies, and then walking out, circling Death in a half circle, his palm out, and his blade almost by his ear but out a ways from his head.

"Though this has been the most fun and the most sport I have ever had." Death grinned, hardly seeming to be phased from the heavy combat.

But Galen knew it to be some sort of an act.

He egged his opponent on, stared him down, and glared.

Death went back.

"Well shall we begin?" He asked cockily.

Galen nodded and then lunged, but pulled back at the last second, causing Death to over step. Galen slashed twice at the midriff, both were easily blocked, and Death slammed the blade down on Galen's, trying to bat it away. Galen slashed hard from left to right, going from bottom to top, intercepting the blade and knocking it back.

Death spun out of the way, and faced his opponent. Galen pressed the first real advantage he had all day by charging his opponent hard, coming in with another slash.

Death blocked it easily, but Galen used the momentum and tried to strike at Death from behind. Death just barely shoved out his hand and whacked Galen across the back of the head, sending him flying through the air, flipping.

Galen landed in a crouch about ten meters from Death.

Death Charged.

Galen intercepted.

They engaged in a series of horizontal and slashing strikes and parries. The sounds of their lightsabers reverberating down the street corners, causing some people to look at them.

They were kicking up dust with their fast foot work and precise strikes, Galen was getting more and more on edge, he had to find a way out.

He kicked out, delivering a blow to Death's face, hearing the snapping of a breaking nose.

Galen spun back. His chest heaving, he tried to concentrate on the Force, and summoned the last reserves of his concentration.

The battle at that point had lasted for nearly twelve minutes, and in the hot sun, with him getting little rest in between, he was losing himself fast.

Death came on again, pressing his advantage.

Galen fell back, striking out again, doing a good job of parrying. Their blades met about mid way across Galen's body, and Death used his incredible strength to push it down, scouring the sand and the floor.

Then with even more surprising strength Death struck out with his left arm and caught Galen square in the forehead, knocking back, and nearly knocking him out.

He shook his head to clear it and stared glaringly at Death.

Death came on again, Galen held his saber in one hand and held it out, in Shiem. And still his enemy came on him.

Galen got down low and then swung his lightsaber around blocking and parrying despite the advantage.

Galen was being driven into the ground, again and again, a strike and a strike, slowly being driven all the way into the ground.

He grunted and moaned, but then summed up a force wave and knocked his opponent back, skidding on the ground about five feet through the sand, dazed and confused.

He got up in a whirlwind, smiling feral and with full rage and hate boiling in him.

It was in that moment that Galen Zaun knew, knew that he had a good chance of survival.

He was calm

His opponent was not.

For all intents and purposes, despite all the bruises, the cuts, and the injuries, he was mostly calm.

He raised his lightsaber up, at about chin high, and calmed his mind.

Death came on again. Swinging and feinting to one side. But, Galen did not fall for it, he nimbly fell back. Brought his saber in one parry after another, blocking easily. Trusting in his limited perception of the Force.

His opponent grew more and more frustrated, and more and more close quarters. He smacked Death across the face, Death punched him in the mouth, almost knocking out a few teeth, Galen elbowed him twice and then stepped on Death's foot.

Death pounced back and howled in rage, he swung his lightsaber in a sweeping arc pushing it at Galen. Galen flew back, hard into a wall, causing his back to explode in pain.

Galen slid to the ground, and then pushed himself up, holding his saber up defiantly.

Death came on, limping slightly, his face swollen.

He swung, over compensated, Galen threw his pommel out to the right straight up, and then swiftly to the left straight up, blocking both the blows.

He then slashed out, holding his saber in both of his hands as he pulled on it, across Death's chest. Death who had not finished his over compensation, fell into the blade.

Death's eyes widened in his shock as his flesh burned and was vaporized, ripping a great burn through the skin, making it black. Death collapsed on his knees, Galen snapped his lightsaber off and dropped to the ground, cradling his opponent.

Galen felt an odd rush of sympathy, affection, and familiarity. This was the first serious duel that had been fought in centuries, long, hard, and intimate.

"Well you won." Death said coughing.

Galen did not think of a single response to that. Death looked at him sideways, and then coughed, spluttering up blood, and pulling Galen down to his mouth, whispering the next words to him in a hoarse moan.

"My son." More coughing.

"You have a son?" Galen said surprised.

"Yes." Death said in pain.

"What is his name?"

Death smiled lopsidedly, "Named after me, but that is not important." He convulsed again. "They are coming for him, and if you thought I was bad this is nothing. Stop them, protect him, you are the victor, you vanquished me, this is your right, he is yours."

"We are Jedi, we do not take possession of people!" Galen said hotly.

"You may not have a choice, I do not want him to be used as a pawn. Protect him, do what you want." Death chuckled. "Even make him a….Jedi." That was his last word, as he slowly slipped into the great unknown, his eyes staring skyward.

Galen closed Death eyes with his hands, and then closed his own eyes, fading off into unconsciousness, as many people came towards him to check with him.

_Master Mikal Skywalker's Office_.

Galen stood before his Master. His lip was swollen, his eye was shut, and his wounds had closed but they were still tender.

Master Skywalker gazed at his friend, looking at him,

"Well, you won." He said.

"Yes, I did." Galen nodded to him.

The silence was uncomfortable and oppressive, Galen wanted to say so much, but could say so little given what he was considering doing.

"The other Jedi," Galen said suddenly remembering, saddened that it had taken him so long to get to it. "He died in battle, he deserves our respect."

"I will see to it, I am already sending someone out there right now as to attend to it. I also have to inform his family." Master Skywalker said.

"The worse duty of those with responsibility."

"Yeah, but at least his rein of terror is over." Mikal said decisively.

"For the moment." Galen said under his breath, so quiet that Skywalker did not show any indication that he heard him.

This is what he meant, this is what he felt before, since he was assigned to his mission.

Over the past few days as he tried to heal, and tried to get back into things, the feeling was growing. Unease with his own soul, and through the Force.

Or, at the least, this was going to play some part in the events that were happening before him. How large a part he could not have said for certain.

"Master Skywalker, I require rest, if this debriefing is over?"

Mikal grinned. "We here on the fringes are way too militaristic for my taste. Then he moderated it slightly, and nodded, "yes you may go.

Galen gathered up his hood and put it around him.

He had a decision to make.


	8. The Descision that Changes History

Galen Zaun sat in his private 'room' overlooking the bustling space port. Most of them were continuing with their lives hardly knowing that history had once again pivoted, that history had been made in their presence.

Though the local media had reported on it, Galen doubted that many of them would have understood the significance.

But, that did not take away from the fact that he had a decision to make, and that it could effect him, and the whole Republic, in a very real and dramatic ways.

He sighed.

He just did not know what to do about it.

On the one hand there was his duty, the duty he had to the Order, to the Republic, the duty he had chosen on himself from a young age.

And on the other was another different kind of duty. Those to his family, and the woman that he chose to love.

If he did this there was no guarantee that he would make it back in time.

"Oh what do I do?" He asked, the walls, beseeching the Force itself for an answer.

No one knew of this either. If he did this he would be on his own. He knew that the Council would never agree with it, that Master Skywalker probably would not agree with it, and they would waste months with squabbling and debating at which point the object that they were squabbling and debating about would have been long captured.

No if he did decide to do this then the Jedi Knights must never know until he decided to reveal him to the Council, at which point he would have to face the numerous consequences of his actions.

But he would rather that then the Jedi failing to do anything and the Galaxy suffering the consequences. Either of them, truth be told.

In that light his choice was obvious. But he still had a personal responsibility waiting for him.

Galen smiled to himself, he finally understood in a distant way why the Ancient Order forbade Jedi from having any attachments to people, and to women, especially to women so hot.

He smiled whimsically to himself. Losing himself in the memories of the distant past and all the time that he had spent with her.

But, he did not have the luxury of thinking about that too much.

Of course there was also lessons to learn from the duel. He was too weak, the Jedi were too weak, he just barely was able to defeat Death. He had to get into better shape, and to get a better grip on Form III.

That was an easy decision to make.

He was jokingly referred to as the Warrior Knight, because of his insistence on combat and lightsaber practice instead of meditating on the Force.

Even then he was nowhere near his best, and he nearly lost, and would have too if his opponent was better at keeping his calm.

He was good, he should be much better.

With that his decision was virtually a forgone conclusion.

He would have to go and at least attempt to rescue Death.

He had no idea what to start, no information on the whereabouts of the kid, and no idea where to look. Just a theory on how he could get to him, Galen suspected he had a Force affinity for people of Death's energy because he fought him so intimately, but it was only a shot in the dark.

But with that he got his cloak and wrapped it around himself.

Despite the many days that he had to heal he still winced from the pain arching through his shoulders. Yep, he had work to do and a cockpit to sit in for who knows how long.

Wonderful.

He made his way out into the corridor and past several soldiers. They stared at him curiously, at least they understood the significance of who he was, and what he did.

He made his way down to the fighter bay and down to his fighter. The shuttle was gone, one of the X-Wings was gone, and his droid was nowhere to be seen.

He went up to his fighter and waved his hand in it, using the Force to open up a panel in the side. He typed in a few commands and a dish appeared out of the side of it.

It turned to him and emitted a blue light which took him in, a light appeared next to it letting him know it was ready to take his message.

"Beam this in a pod bound for Corellia, send this in a local holographic courier." He said to the ship, giving it commands.

The light flashed twice letting him know it understood the instructions before it went solid again acknowledging it was still ready to take down his message.

Galen sighed sadly. "Begin." He said.

The Light changed color.

"My sweet Arkadi, the mission here is of the gravest importance, and it has been completed. However, the man I fought says he has a son. And that son could be of the gravest importance to the order, and to the future of the Galaxy itself." Here he nearly broke down, and sniffed. "I am so sorry my beloved, but I must do this. I am the only one who can. And I do not know when I shall be back. I do not know if I will survive this quest. You will be the only one to know, as you are the only one to know that you are the only being that I have ever truly loved. I will be back to see you when I can. May the Force be with You, take care of our son." He pressed the control and ended the message.

He composed himself and straightened himself out, hiding his face in his hood. No use the soldiers here seeing the great hero distraught, Galen thought wryly to himself, he went up to the stairs, wanting to take a nap, who knows when he will able to sleep next.

He got to his 'room' and crashed on the cot, falling asleep in fits.

_Corellia_

Arakdi was just sitting down to dinner, a silver protocol droid was laying out a tray of local delicacies. She felt alone in the over large dining hall, with no one around, at the large table that she failed to see the other end of given the dim lighting.

She got up, with a squawk of surprise and protest from the droid. She smiled wanly to shut him up.

Ever since she met Galen she always had a feeling, as though she were connected, as though they had a Force Bond, and even though she was no Jedi, she still got feelings every once in a while.

Like the one she had right now.

A sense of guilt, and loss, an oppressive feeling of despair.

She looked out the stars, out the window, and wondered where Galen was.

She wrapped herself in her own arms and gazed heavenward.

She had gotten larger in the last couple of days, finally starting to show her pregnancy, she rubbed her fingers over her stomach and smiled.

Though that made it so she could not leave the house anytime soon. She was saddened and oppressed by that, though no one knew of her pregnancy, and she did not feel like clueing anyone in on that fact.

She only trusted one man with that information, other then Galen himself. He was an aide to her father, tall, straight of back, and had a sharp intellect. He left her father's employ over the whole scandal that got her disowned. He loved her, and was jealous of Galen, and especially that she was carrying Galen's child, but he still did his duty as her best friend to her.

He delivered groceries, supplies, and was an insider of the local politics. Giving her only human contact over the last few days, and she was grateful for that, but she did miss Galen so.

"Oh Galen, where are you?" She beseeched the sky. Then when no answer came she went back over to the table and sat down, eating her meal that was now going cold.

_Master Skywalker's Office._

Galen was sitting in Mikal's over plush chair facing the desk in the room, waiting.

The Sergeant informed Galen that Master Skywalker was off running errands and paying the local Planetary Council the fees for the Jedi/ Military operation running here.

A modest fee of three thousand credits.

He was drumming nervously on the side.

With a whoosh of the door Mikal entered, his cloak whooshing on the carpet, he stopped up short, pleasantly surprised to see Master Zaun.

"Galen." he said bowing his head.

"Mikal," Galen said reaching out to shake the hand of the old master.

"What brings you here?" Skywalker inquired moving behind the desk and sitting down.

"I wanted to check on my fighter, make sure that it was fully fueled and maintained, and ready for launch.

Mikal arched his eyebrows. "You know it is old friend."

"I see, well then I shall be departing this area soon."

"What? Why Galen?"

"I have to go." Galen said lamely, trying to make his voice neutral.

"Well, you did not have to come up just to tell me that." Skywalker said, referring to the maintenance.

"I know, but I just wanted to come up and see you," Galen cleared his throat. "and tell you what an honor it has been serving with you." Galen extended his hand, Mikal went up and took it.

"There is something that you are not telling me old friend." Mikal said.

"Yes," Galen said darkly.

"I see."

"Look, you are just going to have to trust my judgment on the matter."

"I do trust your judgment, friend, but you may go too far." Skywalker said narrowing his eyes and frowning.

"I know, and I thank you." Galen said.

"May the Force be with you." Skywalker said, no hard feelings, and he was genuinely worried about the health and well being of his friend.

Galen nodded, and then headed on out, right down to the docking bay, into his fighter, and off to an unknown and uncertain future.


	9. The Search

It had been about a month since Galen had started his search, to no avail. He had started an unintentional fast and had lost some weight, he was approaching yet another planet, clear, blue, one or two continents.

It was emitting an intense feeling of a Force Bond, the area was permeated with the _scent_ of Death. Both of the man, and of the actual act.

Galen crinkled his nose in disgust. There were no signs of active civilization, only ruins. They looked ancient, but Galen had an eerie feeling that they were not.

He looked for a flat place to put his fighter down, knowing somehow that this was not the end of his journey. But he was curious at the strong feelings that he was getting from the area.

He found a flat place and put his fighter down on the ground. He got out, collected his robe about him, his lightsaber, and then activated the Fighter's shields and the Self Defense protocol for his Droid. He tweeted violently and proudly. Galen smiled at its antics.

Galen started out North, heading into the Sun, holding his saber out just in case.

He traveled for several hours, over rocks, broken surfaces, and then over a lip to a valley.

The sun was getting lower and lower in the sky, making the sky look as though it had caught on fire from the sun dipping into the mountains that he could now make out in the distance.

He got out some lunch, and collapsed in the grass and ate the stale meat. He frowned at that, but he did need the food, of which he was running out. If he did not find Death soon he would have to go back to Kandar. That would not have been beneficial to his quest.

He thought about Arkadi, thought about his growing child, thought about many things, but then he had to move. Into the storm.

He finally got to another lip, a steep incline into a pit, he looked down into it curiously, approaching it cautiously. His lightsaber was out, his thumb on the activation plate.

What he saw shocked him.

In the pit was great bones, from beats of wars, and smaller bones from people, white and gleaming. A few corpses had burns and were disfigured. Their faces were twisted and contorted in pain and fear.

The cuts and the severed limbs were too precise.

Galen was hit by a blast of memory, he heard the sound of a lightsaber cutting and slashing, screams, and the calm laughter that he knew so well despite never hearing it.

Blaster shots were being fired and he heard the screams of shock as they were deflected right back at those who shot them.

He shook his head clear and stumbled back, falling hard on the rocks behind him. He winced, but got up and headed onto the fighter.

Another piece of the puzzle, another location that did not have Death's son.

Galen Zaun got to the fighter at night, his droid tweeted at him with questions.

"Not now, onto the next destination." He got in the fighter as the autopilot blasted them off.

Galen fell asleep in the seat and waited for the dawn.

_An Unknown Location_

Galen woke up with a loud beep from his droid's intercom.

He pressed a button and information raced across the screen. He pressed another button and smooth rich boiling liquid poured into a plastic cup.

He got it and gunned it down, burning himself but sending a jolt of electricity racing down his body clearing his mind.

He looked out of the canopy and saw a yellow gas giant.

Surprised, he looked down at the controls again and saw they were heading for an asteroid moon complex. He was relieved, and curious to see a mining colony constructed within its hollowed out bowels.

His com device sparkled to life and he had to press the controls opening his end of the channel.

"Republic fighter, identify yourself." A thick voice said annoyed, obviously at his mere presence.

Galen was slightly surprised, and worried, at that piece of information. They knew who the Republic was, but this was in unexplored space.

"This is Galen Zaun of the Jedi order, my weapons are unengaged and I mean you no harm." He spoke into the headset.

"Jedi." The Voice humphed. "State your intentions."

Galen's eyes widened and he shook his head away from the prying eyes of his accuser. He had no idea what to say here, because he did not even know if Death was here, and he was sure from the tone of voice that he would be observed.

He smiled wryly. "Sociological experiment. I have always been fascinated by mining operations, and since I am new in this area of space, and I have some time off, I decided to come along."

The voice grunted chagrined. "Alright, you are cleared for landing, bay five, if you raise your shields or charge your weapons we will destroy you."

The com clicked off.

"I don't doubt it." Galen said wearied.

His fighter rocketed towards the base, coasting over a freighter that was sitting on the outside of the facility. He landed, and it looked like the place was full of small ships, fighters, shuttles, corvettes, ships that was large enough to be gun ships. Galen narrowed his eyes at them to inspect them closer, they were unarmed.

The bay was huge, over a cubic kilometers of space.

He secured his fighter, but thought better of turning on his shields, he did bring his lightsaber though, and fastened it to where it could not be seen.

He made his way over to the airlock and went through it, nodding to the attendant droid.

It was a veritable babble of activity. It was crowded with a diverse mixing of species, some of them Galen did not recognize.

A mine cart with Ore was going down the middle of the bay full of the Ore that the facility was mining.

He looked skyward as a shadow crossed him and saw a boxy mining ship that shot out lasers slamming into the rock and cutting off large sheathes of ore.

"Want to buy some Gack?" Galen turned around and saw a woman was regarding him with her head cocked to one side, and her arms placed on her booth.

Her skin was slate gray, and she was wearing a white tunic, her eyes were shining intelligently.

He went over to her and looked into the pot that was being considered for purchase.

It was worms, crawling in the pot lightly.

Galen crinkled his nose in disgust. "No thanks."

"Well if you are sure baby." She purred at him.

He had almost forgotten why he was here, and had to clear his head, then he picked up the Force Scent again.

He pushed his way through the crowd and moved on over to the other side, there he continued pushing his way through the crowd eliciting squeaks and shrieks of protest.

He made it through to a side street, towards the back of the main compartment.

He looked around and saw another row of shops, venders, and living quarters. He followed the Force, all the way to the back, passing rows of Beings that gazed at him curiously.

He finally got back, and nodded at a Being, who nodded right back at him. He looked around confused, for a second, there was nothing to be seen here, in the least. Except the Being.

Galen stared.

He stared.

Galen blinked.

His big eyes blinked in return.

Finally Galen took a step forward extending his hand, the being recoiled. "My name is Galen Zaun, do you know of a Death?"

The being smiled and his eyes widened, but somehow Galen picked up a twinge of aggression. "And what business is it of yours Master Jedi?"

"I am a friend."

"Oh a friend." The Being said chuckling.

"I am looking for his son, I figure that you could help."

"So you are that kind of friend?" The Being chuckled again. "Death told me that you might come about one day."

"Well can you help me?"

"Yes I can."

"Well?"

"Well I do not know. I just know of a hideout that he frequented often on a planet a few light years from here."

Galen actually knew of the planet. "Thank you." he bowed and left, but he hesitated and turned back and saw the being looking at him curiously. "I need fuel and provisions."

"The fuel is easy, one of the things we mine here, free samples up to fifteen gallons. The food though, costs money." He handed Galen a pouch. "There is the Gack vendor." He smiled knowingly.

"Thank you, no." Galen smiled. The Being laughed heartily.

"Well in that case there is the frozen supply and protein vendor on the next level, very cheap, very efficient, provides full meals for a nugget, can last until this sun goes nova."

"I see." Galen said bowing again, expressing his thanks again before heading out.

He reached the protein Vendor and paid for nearly 100 of the packs, they truly were cheap and the pouch had plenty of money.

He placed them in the cargo bay of his fighter, and then blasted off. He felt through the Force the location, when he was satisfied he punched in the quordinates and then blasted into hyperspace.

_Death's Hideout_

He launched out of hyperspace hurtling towards yet another plant. A sun was shining in the distance bathing one side in light, but not the side that his landing zone was on.

He scanned the planet and discovered scattered settlements. A shack was off to the side about one hundred kilometers from any of the settlements.

He was surprised to see what looked like a shuttle off to one side of it, large enough to carry a team of soldiers, about fifty kilometers beyond the shuttle.

He landed his fighter in a patch of stable ground, and got out. It was pouring. He got out and established the standard security settings and loosened his lightsaber on his belt.

He went off in one direction quickly. Heading towards the out of the way hut where he suspected the junior Death was.

He traveled quickly, staying to the jungle and to the shadows away from any prying eyes. He did not know what he could find, but discretion was the best policy given what he saw from the air.

Despite the foliage he was making his way over land quietly, hardly making a noise as he found his way over the wet ground.

Suddenly it stopped raining. Galen looked skyward and saw that the stars were beginning to peak out beyond the clouds as the sky cleared.

A noise to his right snapped his head around catching his attention on the area he heard it from.

He made his way over to where he could hear what was going on.

He could clearly make out voices speaking.

"We are getting close." The first voice said authoritatively.

"Yes we are, less then a click." A second voice said simply.

"Why are we getting paid to hunt for a boy?" A third higher pitched voice asked.

"I do not know, but it is not our right to ask, let us just get paid and go. They want him alive, or dead, and we will get paid. No questions asked, all we know is that our masters want him."

"Besides it is an easy mission for forty thousand." A fourth voice said excitedly.

"Do not get excited." The first voice said disapprovingly, but let the third know that he was excited too by the sound of his voice.

"Yes sir." The man said, hardly chastised.

Galen could just barely make them out, as they started to move out again, cautiously, easily.

He darted and stayed to the shadows where he could not be seen, lightsaber now in hand and ready to go into action.

But he was not watching his step. A twig snapped.

"Hey what was that." A fifth voice said.

An emerald beam of light shot forth from Galen's hand as the slammed his activation plate home.

"A Lightsaber!"

"A Jedi!"

The voices sounded shocked.

Galen swung into action leaping just as they fired, the red and yellow bolts of energy shot past where his legs were.

Another wave of shots were fired, he swung his lightsaber down in an arch plucking them out of the air and deflecting one of them back at his opponent, knocking him down with a scream.

More shots were fired and he deflected them twisting and pumping his arms, swinging his lightsabers in perfect harmony.

Their 'leader' did a combat roll to one side just barely being missed by his own shots.

Galen advanced, he threw his hand out, using the Force to send one of the Bounty Hunters arching through the sky. He landed hard on a tree, breaking his neck.

That left just two.

They fired at him again, he jolted, deflected, and charged.

He slashed across one of their midriffs, and then lunged at the other one, dropping them both in the dirt.

The distinct sounds of blaster bolts being fired split the night air. He looked at the source of the disturbance. They shots came from the hut, light streaming out of one of the windows. This was followed by more blaster shots that pierced the calm night.

Galen ran towards it.

Death looked up shocked from the floor, a young boy, just barely old enough to comprehend. The pretty lady that his father left him with was down in the dirt, face down, a burn in her back from the man shot her.

He looked up startled, and flinched away from the smooth black barrel. The man holding it was indecisive, wondering if he should just kill the kid and be done with it, or if there was a way that he could have taken the kid out of there.

His indecisiveness was lethal.

Galen Zaun exploded into the room. He lifted up his hand and pulled back on it, activating the blade in his other hand.

The man flew right back into it, the green blade of energy piercing his chest and making him grimace in pain. Galen Zaun pulled it out cleanly, and for good measure slashed the man's head off. It rolled away, stopping at the base of a wall.

Death knew that he was safe, knew that this man meant him no harm at all, and that he had an odd familiarity about him, even though Death knew that he had never seen the man.

"My name is Galen Zaun, I am a friend of your fathers, I am here to rescue you."

The boy frowned. "Why? What happened?"

"Your father is dead. And soon you might be too, you need to come with me, your father sent me to protect you from the men who killed him."

"I see." The boy said getting up.

Galen took the boy by the hand and darted off through the trees, making his way to his ship before it was too late.


	10. Death and Birth

Galen strapped Death into the shuttle, then he proceeded to do the same for himself. He looked at the controls of the shuttle determining whether this was a good idea. But given the circumstances this was the only idea.

The controls, thankfully, were relatively simple. He pressed it and the engines throbbed throatily to life. He flicked another control and they took on a high-pitched whine as the engines engaged. He let go of the brakes and the ship jolted into the air, and then into space.

As soon as he was airborne he contacted his droid letting it know it could lift off and set a course for Kandar, with a message for Master Skywalker. It tweeted its acknowledgement and then blasted off leaping to lightspeed.

Galen laid in a course heading for Republic territory and also jumped, at full speed.

He did not know what to do. It was obvious they were onto his and Death's location, and that he was in a stolen transport.

He did not know whether he needed to head back to friendly space, and thus expose Death to the Jedi. Or if he should head into unknown and probably unfriendly space and put down on the edge as he trained and came up with a better plan.

Neither were perfect. But there was safety in numbers and safety in knowledge.

He looked at the kid, who was staring around the cockpit and the compartment with wide eyed excitement. Galen frowned, but there was no other choice in the matter. No other real choice.

He reached down for the controls to adjust the course, but the ship jolted hard, forcing Galen's body into the safety straps.

Death yelled in shock and in pain, sending out echoes throughout the Force. Alarms screamed in warning drawing Galen's attention to the control and status board.

The board lit up a deep red as the lights flickered out of existence bathing the compartment in Red.

Galen's eyes darted back and forth along the board as Death moaned and whimpered behind him in fear.

One engine was out of action, and most of the rear compartment was leaking atmosphere.

He was leaking fuel and the stresses placed on the ship was ripping it apart. And he could make out the worrying sound of metal screeching on metal.

He made one last look of the systems before shutting down the hyperdrive, the ship moaned in protest, the power band stuttered, but a normal starscape returned. It was spinning wildly outside his front viewer.

He chopped the throttle a bit and shut down the bad engine. He hoped by the Force that he had made it into a planetary system.

Yes!

It was a six planet star system. The planets were well dispersed throughout the boundary of the system.

This worried him. But he was losing power.

In the distance he could make out an orb in the vast depths of space, on a normal orbital plane, the fifth planet from the sun.

He adjusted his course and rocketed towards it, trailing sparks all the time. He dropped down the gravity well.

The orb grew rapidly and he was surprised at what he saw. The Planet itself was a crystal clear blackness, he could see down into it until his eyes ran into the thick foliage obscuring the ground.

The planet was black, dark, not a single bit of light penetrated it.

And as Galen approached it he was getting a massive headache, the Dark Side of the Force was permeating the area. Covering it, and twisting it, like a blanket.

But he had no other choice, his power was failing rapidly, and he was leaking a line of fuel as he approached the planet.

He toggled the status board again to check on what he had to work with as far as engines were concerned. The screen reacted quickly.

Two of his Repulsorlifts were destroyed on the port side of his ship. Two more were damaged on starboard, and one was destroyed. the damaged ones were firing intermittently. That left him with just four of the engines online in front of the vessel.

It would have to do.

He nudged his nose down a bit and shot through the planet's atmosphere. The ship's hull temperature shot up rapidly, the alarms screeching in protest letting him know that it was going critical.

Throughout all of this he maintained his perfect calm, Death grabbed onto this and calmed himself as well. Nailing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth.

They entered the lower atmosphere as bulkheads and plating fell off the ship and hurtled ground ward as they were grabbed by the planet's gravity.

The small shuttle shot towards the Jungle Canopy, Galen tried desperately to control its descent, almost panicking.

He was going way too fast.

As he tried to slow the shuttle down he also reached out with the Force, the ship's hull was sturdy, and for the most part intact along its bow.

Down it went, like a flaming arrow, beginning to pierce the upper canopy of the Jungle of Darkness. Its strong twigs raking at the shuttles bottom causing the panels in the cockpit to spark and the ship to rock violently.

He pressed down on a control and fired the repulsorlift coils jolting the ship up and trying to heighten the ships nose.

It worked to some extent and Galen used the Force at the key moment, just sending the ship up high enough.

Impact.

The ship screamed and screeched as it made contact with the ground, bouncing off of it and flipping in the air, rotating completely around and landing nose first in the dust.

The ship rocked violently. Its impact sent Galen bouncing around in his harness.

A loud snap made itself heard over the new alarms breaking out from all over the cockpit.

Galen went flying forward on the next impact, his head bashing into the control panel as it exploded in a shower of sparks.

The sound of a screaming boy greeted him into unconsciousness.

_Kandar_

Master Skywalker was awoken late at night at the report that Galen's fighter was approaching the planet.

He got up to greet his old friend, running down to the docking bay.

He was surprised to see no one there, the cockpit was empty, the cargo bay was empty. But in the ship was a message explaining some of Galen's whereabouts.

Skywalker scowled nervously, and then ordered a search and rescue mission to be launched immediately.

He cursed his friend, worried about his fate.

_Corellia. _

Arkadi was giving birth.

And Galen was not around to comfort or protect her. Just an old doctor smiling nervously down at her and a droid in attendance making what Arkadi assumed were soothing noises.

It had been several days since Galen was officially declared missing. The search was still going on, but after all the time that had passed no one was confident.

This had brought on a premature birth.

She was breathing, heaving hard, in out in out in out. Over and over again, her breaths coming in a pant.

The Doctor suddenly grinned.

The life form that had been growing in her was squeezing and wiggling itself free from her, wailing and crying as it went, separating himself from her body with a reckoning.

Arkadi could already tell that he was going to be a fighter, a warrior, and a protector. A Knight in shining armor.

So much like his father.

A tear went down her cheek at the thought as she could barely contain herself.

Finally he was free of her, and in her arms.

"So what's the kid going to be called?" The kind old doctor with his whiskers smiled down at her.

She grinned at the newborn toothily. "John" She said, still almost breathless.

The Doctor's eyebrows arched in surprise. "John?!?!" his look went contemplative. "Not the name I would have chosen for him."

"I know, its going to be unique. Not since the ancient days of Corellia, a great protector of the innocent." She said looking at the Doctor smiling gaily, full of new life.

"If you say so." The Doctor shrugged skeptically, heading out of the room to take care of his other duties in regards to her.

She turned her attention back to her son, cooing and rubbing his nose, loving him, and smiling down at him.

And she had no idea how right she was, one of the most pivotal figures in the History of the Galaxy had just been born in a small clinic on Corellia..


	11. Reflection and Discovery

_Corellia_

Arkadi was sitting out on her porch, cradling baby John in her arms. Light was streaming down over the peaks and down the valleys, casting long shadows. It was still early morning on Corellia.

She had to stifle a yawn as she looked out over the rising sun, painting the sky a vibrant red.

She heard the sounds of someone walking up the front steps behind her. The sounds reverberating and crashing over the rocks as they ran up the steps.

John whimpered slightly.

Arkadi sighed to herself gently.

The steps reached the top and stopped, then they pressed the ringer. Arkadi got up as the attendant Droid opened the door.

She walked down the steps, slowly, laboring. The bundle of joy in her arms was prohibiting easy movement, and the aches and pains of her body, combined with lack of sleep, all contributed to making her pace sluggish.

She used the smooth wooden railing as support. Its texture smooth and ice cold under her fingers.

She saw that her visitor was the aide to her father that was rather fond of her. She frowned slightly at that, not knowing what he wanted.

He looked up at her and smiled at her brightly, clearly glad to see her again after all the time apart.

"Arkadi" He said nodding to her simply, trying to keep his voice neutral, but his voice was quivering with excitement.

She nodded back at him darkly.

"Look…I…um…I am here to help" He said, staring at his feet and then giving her a guilty look.

"Are you now?" She said, genuinely curious, tilting her head to one side and glancing at him, arching one eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah I am. In some small way. Nothing major." He sighed.

She looked at him urging him, begging him to continue with her eyes.

"Look, I, you know my opinion of Galen."

She nodded at him wondering where this was going, the twist and turns.

"You know I do not like him much, that I do not like his relationship with you, and how it turned out." He glanced at John and shifted his feet uncomfortably. "And I wish things could have worked out a different way between the two of us." He sighed again. "But, do not mistake my intentions. All of that is irrelevant. I am here to offer my services to help, just help. I have no intention of replacing Galen nor do I especially want to replace Galen. He is obviously the only person for you in the world, and I respect that. I just offer to be here, check in every now and then, and to bring you what funds I can from my…" his voice trailed off as he smiled chagrined. "space repair job."

She smiled at him. "I really appreciate the offer, I really do. I have no friends up here and I am all alone." She smiled sadly, feeling tortured and so alone, but grateful someone was there for her. But she also felt tortured and conflicted because she felt as though she was betraying Galen like this, but she had to survive.

"Well its not like I can come by that often anyways, I need to work hard just to stay afloat, and since some of it is going to help you, well there is that."

"I appreciate it." she smiled, this time genuinely. For all she knew Galen was gone. Her survival, in that context, could not have been a betrayal. She hoped that Galen would have understood that.

He was a Jedi.

"So what is going on in the world?" She asked, he was her only contact with the outside world.

He went onto explain the things that were going on in the world, that the economic bill proposed by her Father was being bitterly fought and debated.

She enjoyed the discussion greatly, sitting down at the table, and being entranced by the conversation.

She had the Droid serve crumpets for the both of them as the afternoon stretched into night.

_The Jedi Temple_

The Council was convened, a far too regular occurrence these days for the comfort level of most of the Masters gathered around the room.

The Force energy positively crackled, the room felt positively worried and on a knife's edge.

All the Masters felt each other's worry, which only served to increase their own feelings of unease.

Their fears were heightened by their own reliance on one another.

Their was only one center of calm. Too old and too wise to be perturbed by much anymore.

But even the Grand Master scowled around the room. The Jedi in many respects were not ready for this, and his deepest, darkest fears were that they had let themselves become this way, and that they would not be able to face the storm that was so clearly coming.

The scent was firmly on the Force, and he wondered how much he should actually tell the assembled crowd.

All he knew was that he had to get the Order ready, one way or the other.

And that the greatest Master that would help them achieve that end was now a Fallen Knight, missing.

And despite how much that the Grand Master personally agreed with Master Zaun on a wide variety of topics, and despite how much he valued Galen's council, the rest of Jedi Orthodoxy and the assembled Council, would never permit Galen's solutions or for Galen to be a member of the Council.

The irony was so great that it even surprised his seven hundred and forty eight year old self. That the greatest Jedi that they needed, was the most hated Jedi that they had, and was the one that they needed the most.

He cleared his throat bringing the meeting to order.

"Much to discuss we have." He said.

The group peered at him curiously, and then the newest member of the order spoke "Attacks have been happening on the Outer Rim of the New Galaxy. Pilots have been going into Uncharted Space, to never return."

"That must be our first priority." The Second Master of the Order said.

"No, our mission, to gather information, it must be." the Grand Master said firmly. "Rushing into the fire, when not knowing the threat, dangerous that is."

"But we must do something." Another one of the Temporary Councils argued.

"Do something we will, considered our actions, must be, if war, we are to avert." The Grand Mastered iterated.

"And then there is the issue of Master Zaun falling." One of the female Councilors breathed.

"Ha, good riddance." Another Councilor said.

A spike of anger shot through the Grand Master. "Good riddance you say? Able to defeat Death he was, needed him we did."

The Masters fell into an uncomfortable silence.

"If war it is to be, then be ready we must, or all is lost." The Grand Master set grimly.

_The Dark Planet_

Death and Galen had been there for several months, and for not a single day did the sun rise or set, just a constant darkness about the whole planet. Sometimes it was dark and oppressive, and other times it was a bit on the light side. Never daylight, but less dark.

They could never see that far.

The shuttle made the perfect base for them, as it had arrived mostly intact, just none of the flight systems had worked, but it was easily defendable, provided good shelter.

But the most amazing thing about the whole incident was that most of the supplies had made it intact, and the supplies that he had added. The containers were air tight, and literally bolted down to the floor to prevent them from being sucked out by decompression. The ship was clearly built to survive.

Add onto that the Mercenaries had their own food stuffs, richer, darker, and so much better for you than the Protein Packs that he got from the station.

They were beginning to run low on this food though, and Galen was worried, terrified actually of the possibility when they ran out.

Galen's hypothesis about the planet was confirmed. It was literally coated in the Dark Side of the Force. Evil energies whirled around him obscuring everything, but yet at times it was light and he could see through the darkness, not far, but far enough to scout out his surroundings on the edge of the jungle.

The food was poisoned and twisted by the Dark Side, as were the creatures, and while it was possible to heal it through his knowledge of the Force, that would take a lot out of him when the time arrived.

They had spent much of their time here healing.

Galen, upon impact had suffered a concussion and a broken arm. Despite this they were able to make a caste for him and were able to explore the jungle.

They were hooted and hollered at, and had to kill two creatures with his Lightsaber.

They were also able to make a makeshift Lightsaber for Death out of supplies from the shuttle. It was not too powerful, but it gave Death something to do and to train with.

The Force was with them.

But much time had passed and now they were mostly healed. Galen's arm was out of the caste even though his fingers still hurt from time to time, and his arm was still numb. It was usable though and that is all that he wanted.

They were eating a rich hot stew, that was turning to ice quickly, the oppressive blackness of the planet seemed to take the heat and the energy out of the air.

Death stared at it suspiciously while he ate. Playing with it, and twirling it gently, before he scooped it up with the spork and stuck it in his mouth, chewing on it lightly.

"Galen, what happened to my father?"

Galen looked up and Death was peering at him curiously, full of wonder and suspicion etched on his face.

Galen had expected this, and had an answer, despite the difficulty of it. It just surprised him that it had taken months upon months for the question to be asked. But they had been busy surviving.

"Well he was killed, by a group of men, I could not stop them, they ambushed him and by the time I came upon him it was too late."

"But my father never traveled with anyone." Death revealed.

"I did not travel with him, but I knew of him. I am sorry things had to be this way."

Death did not know how to take the news. His father always preached ruthless and unceasing devotion to strength and passion. That those were the only ways to survive, and a misstrust of all things that were outside of his sphere of influence. That to survive you had to be stronger than anyone else and to Death this had seemed wise.

Especially given the hard life that the two of them had led ever since he was born. Death usually had to trick or control women into helping them and taking care of him while his Father went off onto various adventures.

But over the last two months he found someone who was more then willing to do it, more then willing to replace the mother that he had lost all those years ago.

And Death could tell that his father was starting to love her in his own weird twisted way, which was opening up old wounds for all concerned.

But now she was dead, his Father was dead, and he had to rely on a perfect stranger for protection and training. Galen promised that he would be trained.

Death's Father insisted, that he was about ready to use the Force, and to begin that aspect of his life.

And now there was this man, coming out of the sky to fulfill that promise. Death struggled on whether he should trust Galen or not, but his scent was familiar.

But there was just something about him.

"Well shall we begin." Galen said picking up his lightsaber.

Death nodded.


	12. Death on Corellia

_Corellia. _

John was growing fast, Arkadi was getting used to Galen's absence in her life, though that absence still left a hole in her chest that left her paralyzed every time she thought about it. To top it all off she was getting used to the company of her dear friend Ralph, grateful for him to help her forget.

But John was growing steadily, in both mental faculties and in physical size. He was already able to speak fluently, keeping up a conversation. Always asking about what was going on. Wanting desperately to one day go to school, however Arkadi had every intention of home schooling him.

So every night she taught herself everything, history, math, physics, and consulted with specialists in their field that might be able to help her out.

It was an exciting time, and she loved John dearly, with all of her soul. He was her only lifeline to his father, and was apart of her as well. That made him the most unique being in the universe, and she had no intention of letting anything happen to him.

But the best laid plans…

A human male, named Crag, stared through his binoculars at the large mansion of a house.

"So they look rich?" The female member of the crowd asked excitedly.

"Yes." He said with a scowl.

He did not like this, he had been laid off months ago from a Corellian shipping company which left him without any options to pay for his survival, he had to do something, and this was the most obvious location.

They had already raided two others without much luck, so he and his gang of six tried to do something about that, and went to this ambitious site.

He had no idea who lived here only that they had to be rich to afford the gigantic space.

"Well lets get on it." He said, lightning arched through the air, as it began to pour, drenching his beard and hair in water. but fortunately not the blaster pistol that he had tucked in his poncho.

Arkadi had just finished getting into her smooth white, tight fitting, flower jammies, and had done the same for dear John.

She sighed contently to herself, enjoying the peace and quiet that life provided for her at this time of night. Before the next major crisis.

She wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes and enjoyed the silence, it wrapped her in a blanket, as she listened to her own heartbeat. Not another noise in the house, it was deathly quiet.

The only noise was the rain outside, pattering against the windows and the wood. This only served to heighten her feeling of peace and contentment.

Her eyes snapped open, then she heard a banging from the outside door which attracted her notice. Somehow she knew it was going to happen, and this thought made her shiver.

But then she stopped and her mind raced. Who would brave the storm and be visiting at this time of night? No one had any business, doing so. She clenched her fists at her sides, and tip toed around the corner, and to the top of the flight of steps, peering around the corner, and then moving to expose herself.

She was merely curious by the situation, and watched as the Droid went to go greet the visitors.

Suddenly a spike of terror arched through her body and her soul, shooting out from that place where she kept the memory of Galen.

Her eyes widened as wide as planetary orbs, her breath caught in panic as she wanted to yell out and warn the Droid not to greet.

Too late.

The door opened and a metal rod appeared in the doorway, two blaster bolts screeched out and pierced the calm night air, the Droid let out a startled yelp as it fell with two gaping burns in its chest, its eyes dark and deactivated.

She gasped and ran for the room as six figures burst through the door.

"Alright move out! Find the vault, or any other valuables!" A masculine voice graveled out.

Thieves! Here! She cursed her luck, and then wished Galen was here to rescue her. She was terrified, panicked, her heart was pounding in her chest. Nowhere to hide in the wide hallways of her house, the tall ceilings, the great expanses, the many stairs.

She had to get a grip, her mind was working in over drive. John! She thought. She ran, and then was thankful she was in her bare feet making a pitter patter of noise that was not likely to reach over the howling wind, the flash lightning, and the ever increasing noise of rain slamming into the house.

She reached her son's room and scooped him up, practically dragging him to the panic room, away from the main halls, out of the way, hard to find. She placed him in a compartment full of blankets and sheets to hide him further, she shut it and then moved a picture in front of the compartment that now contained him.

Ancient Corellian legend, if you put a picture of a beautiful woman over your son or his sleeping place, he will have great powers of prowess.

She smiled skeptically at the painting before rushing out of the room.

Boot steps behind her made her freeze, and she could see shadows approaching her.

She picked up her pace and slinked around the corner just as the two figures appeared in the hallway.

Staying off the main paths she sped to her room, and staying to the secret hallways and shortcuts. She made it to her room and shut the door quietly.

She then jolted for the vault on the other side of her room. She entered in the combination code expertly and quickly, it whooshed open with a rush of air, revealing a perfectly preserved Corellian dueling Pistol.

It was a gift for her birthday from Galen, and even though she thought it odd at the time it was invaluable now. Arkadi had a warm feeling as she hefted the smooth expertly crafted weapon, she found it comforting that Galen was able to protect her even from the grave.

She carefully made her way out, now that she was armed there was no need to panic.

Crag was making his way along the second floor, this place was huge! He was surprised that the only thing he had run into was the Droid. The rest of the household must have abandoned ship at their presence.

A woman appeared In his path holding a device. He froze in shock, and his eyes widened. He spun back around the corner as two bolts of yellow light exploded from the gun.

He ripped his own bulky weapon out of the holster and placed it in both hands aiming down it as he carefully moved out from his cover. Only to find nothing there.

"Heads up we are not alone here." he alerted into his com.

"We know, we heard." His woman said bored.

Arkadi moved down the stairs, she missed, and she lost the element of surprise, she was trying not to panic and not to lose herself, but she was no Jedi and no soldier. Only a simple daughter of a politician, and a lover of a great man.

She made her way over to the stair banister and peered down it.

"Hey you!" A slurred voice said, she jumped and looked at the figure, obscured in the dull lighting, but clearly human. She panicked and leapt, landing on the floor below and going into a roll, she hit her shoulder hard and grimaced in pain. She rolled again to face the top floor.

The thief was aiming down his pistol deciding what to do, she beat him to it, she swung her whole body around and fired, repeatedly. Wood exploded from the railing as the bolts made contact, ripping it to shreds, and causing the thief to wince back. He pointed down the pistol in one hand and fired down at her.

She was able to get up and run, the heat of the bolts just missing her, one punching a whole in her skirt.

She ran and flew around a corner, hugging herself to a wall.

She saw another one of the thief's leafing through an old history book, and enraged at the intrusion she leveled the pistol at him and fired.

This time the yellow bolt drilled the man in his chest causing him to crumple and be forced back, dead.

She went down the long flight of steps again, leading them away from John.

Then she saw their leader. No time to fire, she prepared to jump off the remaining steps and make a get away to the basement and hide there. But the leader fired before she was able to make the jump.

He did not intend to hit her but she ran into his weapons fire.

The yellow bolt caught her in her shoulder causing her to grimace in pain and misread her jump, she fell, the second bolt caught her in the back.

She landed hard on the ground and broke her neck.

Crag's eyes widened in shock. "No!" He yelled out, the pounding of boots running greeted him as his team assembled.

He ran to check on her. She was dead. He felt humiliated and so enraged at himself for what he had become.

The team stared down solemnly at her, all but one, a satisfied and ruthless smile plastered on her face.

A bolt of lightning split the air and illuminated the scene in front of them.

"Wait what's that?" The youngest member of the team said.

The rest of them strained their ears, and Crag could here it too, the wailing of a baby.

"She was a mother?" One of the team said.

Crag felt sick, he nearly stumbled and fell down, feeling weak and humbled.

"Who cares?" The woman said. "The only valuable thing here is books and plates. And neither of them will be of much use to our employer's. Maybe we can auction him off?"

Crag looked at her shocked and disgusted. The mere suggestion served to reinforce his stomach, his posture hardened and he extended himself to his maximum height. It was as though durasteel had been poured into his very soul making him stronger.

"What?" He said bitterly.

"This will be for nothing." She said simply, "all of this, we need to get something."

"No! this is too much, we have to go."

"You can go if you like but I am taking the child." She said turning her back on him, exposing the rear of her to him. He was too disgusted to take notice.

"Come on man we need to go, the Militia are probably around the corner!" The man who shot at Arkadi pleaded.

"Yeah he is right." Crag said pleading.

She froze. "Well I am not leaving."

He was shocked. He picked up his weapon and fired at her, catching her square in the back, and dropping her down hard.

She was dead. But he was enraged. He fired into her head twice out of pure spite.

Then he dropped his weapon, shocked by what had happen. The baby was still wailing.

His comrade's arm was draped across the waist of the woman they had murdered. To anyone who had come it would look like two women trying to protect each other from the evil thieves.

Crag stumbled back, in fear, and scrambled outside the door. Crawling back, and then running in a blind panic.

His men pleading after him.

_The Dark Planet._

Galen stumbled and fell face first into the ground, Death's makeshift blade just barely avoiding severing Galen's head from his body.

"Master?" Death said shocked.

"Its nothing Death." He said, truly not knowing.

All he had felt was a wave of sadness in the Force, that penetrated even this deep dark miserable place. Slamming into him and causing him to nearly break down. But he had no way to know what had caused it.

_Corellia_

It was Ralph's regular visiting day. He got up the steps, and was curious to see that the door was ajar.

He opened it all the way and entered, peering around. He saw the Droid in many pieces, obviously deactivated, he looked around in a panic.

"Arkadi!" He yelped as he saw her in a crumpled mass on the floor, another woman's arms draped around her.

He went over to her, and fell on his knees. He rolled the other woman over, making her stare at the sky. Her eyes were lifeless. She was ruggedly beautiful, and not the same classic beauty as Arkadi.

Before he could check on her he thought of John. He rushed up the stairs and found him easily.

He gathered him up and tried to soothe him.

He panicked. He did not know what to do, did not have the money, or the resources to take care of John. His soul was rocked with great sadness. He knew what had to be done, but he would betray Arkadi, and he did not need that on his conscience. He was torn, and the baby, knowing his parentage, picked up on that and cried, wailed.

It broke his heart and made it even more difficult.

"There, there, I am going to take care of you." He said.

He left a tip at a local PD station and then dropped John off at an orphanage.

He retreated quickly from guilt mostly, fear, and not wanting his identity known for political reasons. A nun opened the door curious at the intrusion, and peered down on the steps before the orphanage, she found a small boy, breathing fitfully as if he was still in the throes of a nightmare.

Worried about his safety, she took him into the orphanage and summoned the rest of the nuns.

Ralph's heart fell, but he had no other choice in the matter. Who knew what would be the fate of John Zaun.


	13. An Education

_The Dark Planet. _

Death was in full swing of Galen's training, learning the ropes and the Force through a rigorous process.

Months passed and that stretched into years, Death grew. He grew strong, and strong in the Force.

Their supplies may have run out long ago, but Galen was able to heal the planet of its Dark Side wounds here and there. He made some of the food edible. But it took so much energy out of him. So he taught Death how to do it, but Death never got the hang of it.

They concentrated mainly on Combat skills and lightsaber fighting style.

The Dark side blanketed the area, and thus made it harder for Galen to train Death into the lighter elements of the Force, and thus certain Force powers.

Thus Galen decided to put that off til later, and work on Lightsaber combat first. Passing on words of wisdom, and teaching survival skills without relying on the Force.

Death proved to be ruthless in Form Five, in spite of his diminutive size due to his poor diet, he showed a ruthless passion with the blade.

But Galen was also training himself. Meditating on the Force, learning how to use Form III for himself and get better with that, and get more physical for Form V and for his lightsaber combat and dueling ability.

Death and Galen took turns trading off with lightsaber combat and rolls. First Galen was the aggressor, and then Death was. First Galen worked on Form V and pressed his attack, and then he worked on Form III, the same was true of Death. Learning the two forms to great proficiency.

Galen wanted Death to be exposed to the other forms but he was not the best teacher in those areas.

The constant Mantra of the Soresu ran through Death's head.

"To use Soresu you have to be the center of the Storm, the calm of the storm, whether you are dealing with one enemy or multiple enemies. When on the defensive you have to expect your opponent to strike from any direction, whether you are dealing with a Unit, or a singular opponent. They will have the initiative. You have to hold out until you can counterattack, or until you can go on the offensive with another Form. Soresu is all about defense, keep your blade to your body and do not overextend yourself, if you do you will expose yourself. Keep your area of control close around you, knowing at all times when the battle is going, and where all your opponents are, and where they are striking from. But since Form III is all about Defense, then you must keep your calm, do not ride your emotions."

This last part was the most difficult for Death. Even though in battle he was able to keep himself calm, there was always the boiling undercurrent of emotion, and intensity. Waiting to come out at the slightest provocation.

Death grunted and barked in emotion when he was in trouble, and had a tendency to switch forms. This elicited a sharp rebuke from Galen who insisted he had to be balanced in all things.

And while Form V had an element of defense to it, it was principally offensive.

"To overwhelm your opponent, use your emotion and your strength to, while keeping in mind defense and parrying."

To Death this philosophy was so much more simplistic.

But to Galen the philosophy was that the easy way was not always the best way. Something else that he hammered into Death's head until he was sick, but when he thought about it, it made sense to him.

Galen was not the most fatherly figure in the world, but he was important to Death, and Death loved him in his own way.

And above all, Galen preached the "calm warrior patience to win," philosophy.

Death just nodded at that. And Galen also had a healthy questioning, asking Death to form his own opinions on the Light side and the Dark side of the Force.

_Corellia_

John Zaun had grown fast. If there was one thing that the Order of Mercy had was lots of food to feed the orphans and displaced souls that traveled through their halls.

As a result John had grown physically fast, and physically well, though a bit over weight.

He was popular around the mission and around the ladies who ran it, though they watched him as he watched the stars at night. Dreaming of a big grand future, wanting to be more. This worried the humble nuns.

But John knew that he was destined for bigger things, he could feel it, and he watched the sky at the end of each night, wishing he were out there.

But school kept him busy, as he spent many years learning and growing. Hanging out and learning from friends.

He absorbed history like a sponge, being fascinated by all the tales and the epic history of the Republic.

His two favorite figures were Reven and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

He went home each night and tried to do his homework, but was distracted by his own wanderings, imagining the epic battles between Reven and Malek, the Clone Wars, and the pivotal events of the Vong Conflict.

He spent hours thinking about it and day dreaming on it, writing his random musings down in an old journal.

Then at the end of the night he could have sworn that he felt a buzz of energy shooting through his skin and extremities, making him feel so alive, as if he could sense perceptions around him.

He was not too popular at school being picked on and abused, but he always found a way to hide, and to keep on his studies.

He was not the best student due to his dreaming of a bigger future, and he only had a core group of friends.

One of them was a girl, she was skinny and small of frame, dark black hair and piercing eyes. They followed each other around everywhere.

And he had a crush, the girl was about five inches taller then him and had streaming blond hair.

She did not know quite what to make of him, but at least she tried to be nice. And that endeared her to Zaun's psyche quite a bit.

But, the orphanage did not allow any visitors which made Zaun's nights lonely, but he almost preferred it that way, as it was perfectly quiet late at night and left him with his thoughts of fantasy and great dreams.

Tapping his pencil on the table he struggled with math and was entranced by history.

Another one of his favorite places was the library, as he was able to get his hands on a wide variety of information that he could not have gotten any other way.

Over the summers he enjoyed his time off, having time to play, and to 'run' down the sloping hills. Then he collapsed in the grass, the sun shining brightly on his face, the breeze that rolled over the mountains licked his cheeks and tickled him.

Though, perhaps his thirst for knowledge was the lack of it he had about his own life. He felt sad, puzzled, lonely, and embittered that he did not know of his past.

He was left all alone, he did not know who his mother was, who his father was, and felt so alone that he was abandoned by them, for whatever their reasons.

The ladies were nice, but there were more orphans and lost souls here other than him. And he saw the people being taken home by parents, by siblings, and by relatives. No matter how amazing the nuns were, they could not replace the empty black hole at the center of his heart as he watched his fellow classmates go home.

This occasionally caused him to pout and mope around.

Though the nuns were invaluable to him, trying to teach him to be humble, to be calm, and with the highest values of self sacrifice, and the service of others.

He took these lessons to heart, and was always willing to help out others when they came by the orphanage. Always doing what little he could given his busy schooling.

But, he was so alone.

He felt that acutely with each passing day, cursing his luck and his fate in the Force. Thrashing about and crying himself to sleep every now and then.

He spent all of his time wondering, about who he was, and what his origins were.

He also thought about his greater destiny, looking up at the stars.

_The Dark Planet_

Galen was sleeping on the cot inside the crew compartment of the shuttle, at least he was trying to. He could not find a way to get comfortable and was staring up at the ceiling of the ship.

His beard had grown thick, and his hair had grown long and baggy.

He was up thinking about the blast in the Force that he felt, now that was years ago, but he could not help it. Because he felt as though he knew what it was, though he could not bring himself to believe it, but only one thing could have caused that kind of shockwave.

As for Death, he was proving to be a great student, but hard to control. He had a fiery and aggressive personality, and indomitable and uncontrollable sense of freedom and independence.

This both gave Galen cause for concern, and something to be happy about his new apprentice. It was exhilarating truth be told.

He just wondered constantly how John was growing up, and if his feeling was wrong, then how Arkadi was coping without him. He was sure that John was going to grow up and be a great Jedi Knight, or some other protector.

And he felt so guilty that he was not there for the two of them, that he could not have at least watched him grow.

But for the moment that was impossible, till he could find a way home.


	14. Return to Civilization

Captain Lensu was standing on her bridge. Her arms were folded on her chest and she was scowling out the ancient viewport of the ancient bridge.

It was old and dirty, a thin film of black soot covered most of the walls and the bulkheads. The light was dim from years of use, the power distribution systems were all out of whack.

So she scowled out the viewport.

She was here on an 'important' mission from a private manufacturing company. They were sending ships into uncharted space with reckless abandon. Hunting for materials that were vital to making hyper drive engines, if they got a brand new source they could likely corner the market.

She was sent out to scout out worlds with this old freighter, and then take samples for confirmation by the lab techs back in the Republic.

This was the eighth system they had visited and had determined it was unlikely that any of its six planets had what they were looking for. Scowl scowl.

But the fifth planet from the sun had attracted their notice, and more scientific members of her crew had 'elected' to go visit the planet. And since they were well ahead of schedule, the Captain had aquesed to their demands.

"Ms. Ryn, anything?" She said turning to the officer manning the sensor section.

"Nothing, there is just some form of energy around the entire planet. It is unidentifiable, but it appears to be preventing all light from escaping, and is even blocking some of our scans." Ms. Ryn said trying to sound excited.

"Interesting, so nothing to report?" Lensu asked.

"Nothing." Ms. Ryn said scowling.

"Alright, nothing to see here, and we are beginning to cut our schedule short now." She turned to her Ryn pilot….Ryn and Ryn…this made her grin. "Set a course for the next planet….full hyper-"

"Captain!" Ms. Ryn barked out.

"What is it?" Captain Lensu said trying to control her voice and keep from biting the head off her most capable crewmember.

"I am picking up life forms." She said breathlessly, too shocked to believe the information racing across her screen.

"It's a jungle planet." Lensu snapped at her, jutting out her head and glaring aggressively.

"No." Ms. Ryn said moaning and placing her head in her hand, smacking herself. "They are complex life forms, in fact based on these readings," she blinked at it, then re read the information and the analysis. The pale glow of the screen highlighting her features as she scrunched over the screen muffling , "human" as she breathed.

"Humans, here?" The Ryn said musically turning around to peer at the sensor station.

"Yes, and based on these readings they seem to be around a crash site." Ms. Ryn said.

Captain Lensu was curious about this. "Prep the shuttle, you two will join me down there. Lets see what this is about."

The two of them nodded and headed down to the shuttle bay.

They shot over the jungle, and Captain Lensu gazed out of the shuttle window as they moved over the dark canopy. She could make out the darker areas that were trees and bushes and the mass of the jungle, nothing defined, just a full darkness with darker areas indicating the foliage. There were spots in it where the jungle cleared.

She arched her eyebrow in surprise wondering how such a planet could have evolved in the first place.

But she felt cold, and wished that she had brought more appropriate attire than the sleeveless vest she was wearing now. She suddenly suspected it was not a coldness in the air, but a coldness of the planet. It felt dark and foreboding, she wrapped herself in her arms and rubbed them as she tried to get rid of the goose bumps and warm herself up. Dark and dangerous, murderous, thoughts entered her mind. She began to froth at the mouth and reach for the multi tool at her feet, wanting to bash the head in of the innocent Ryn.

Captain Lensu shook her head, and cleared it. She gazed around the shuttle that was dark and only the lights from the consoles greeted her. She gazed at Ms. Ryn, who was wincing and holding her head as if in pain. The Ryn pilot seemed to be undisturbed.

The Captain reached out and shook the shoulder of her sensor officer.

Ms. Ryn started, then nodded "I am alright!" She had to yell over the noise of the turbo engines.

"Yeah," Captain Lensu nodded decisively, "Lets get this over with."

"You will get no argument out of me!" Ms. Ryn said back with a weak smile.

"Sirs, I have a fire just ahead of us." The Ryn suddenly spoke, his high-pitched musical voice making it over the whine of the shuttle's systems.

Lensu and Ms. Ryn got up, and went over to the shuttles forward bubble viewport. They indeed saw a fire, burning out like a flaming beacon of goodness and light shining throughout the darkness.

"Land us in that blank space over there." Lensu said pointing. She then went out to the rear of the ship and got out three blasters, after what just happened to her, she was not taking any chances.

They landed with a bump and went out through the woods, the feeling of darkness was growing on their minds again as they cut through the thick foliage with vibro machetes. It did not seem to part easily despite the multiple slashes.

They finally got to the center of the light, blinding them in the darkness.

They had their weapons out at their sides.

Two figures appeared through the glaring light, both of them were skeletal, and looked malnourished. But, the one on the left straightened proudly, a grin plastered on his face which seemed at such odds at the despair that was nipping at the edge of the group's psyche.

"Hi! About time, my name is Galen, Galen Zaun, and this is Death." He greeted waving.

This put the group of three on edge.

"Oh no, not like that, he's harmless…well relatively speaking." Galen retorted Pensively.

"I am Captain Lensu of the Republic Mining Explorer _Crichton._"

"Oh a mining ship? Well I doubt you can find anything of value here. We request permission to return to the Republic."

"We can arrange that," Lensu started, now really desperate to leave, "but we do have a schedule to keep and will not be back in the Republic for several weeks now."

"Oh I understand." Galen said. "All we want is some good food, and a place to sleep."

"I'll buy that." Death said, rubbing his stomach hungrily.

"Very well then." Lensu grinned, suddenly feeling happy. Their innocence, joy, and goodness was starting to pierce her heart.

They left the planet, all of them glad for the relief.

_The Jedi Temple_

Five weeks later, and the two men were in the Jedi Temple. Death was peering around curiously, and he received curious looks back. They were now attractions, Galen risen from the dead, and Death a new comer. Some of the looks from the female Jedi in the room lingered on Death for awhile before moving on, a Twi'lek flicked her Lekku at him staring.

The two men were now in good shape. They were now clean, shaven, and well fed. Galen kept his beard but cropped it short again, flecks of gray were now beginning to dot it here and there.

Death shaved his beard completely off.

They made their way to the top of the temple where the Council was waiting for them.

"Master Zaun, good of you to rise from the dead, it is." The Grand Master said.

The rest of the Council moved their heads around slowly to blink at him.

He hmmmed to himself. "Master of the Force I am, master of humor, obviously, I am not."

Galen and Death both cracked a smile, trying to keep it hidden from the serious assemblage of people.

"Yes, it is good of you to come back." The second master said, arching an eyebrow at him. "But, you have a lot of explaining to do. Like why you did not tell us there was another Death out there." He glared pointedly.

"You would have spent weeks debating it, at which point he would have been dead." Galen offered simply.

"You do not know that!" The master spat.

"So you do not trust the wisdom of the council?" Another one of the permanent Councilors said.

"I did not have any other options." Galen replied.

The rest of the Council gasped slightly at that, and an angry murmur went through the assembled crowd, threatening to explode.

The Grand Master waved his hand requesting that they be silent. They fell silent almost immediately.

"Master Zaun, disturbing your decisions are, but too late to do something about it, it is. Take it I do, you have a request to make?"

"Yes, I do." Galen said, for the first time uncomfortably.

"Then make it." The second Master said, sounding annoyed.

"Death, while he is good with the blade, still needs his own official Lightsaber. He also still has a long way to go, I intend, and ask permission to take him as a Padawan."

"So now you ask our permission?" The Second Master said snorting.

"Yes, I am sure you can appreciate this is a unique circumstance."

"Consider this we must, take a break you can." The Grand Master said.

"You can reach me on Corellia," Galen said bowing out.

Death also bowed then left the room.

"How can you tolerate them?" Death asked narrowing his eyes.

"Its not always easy." Galen said with a wry smile. "But, it must be done. They are not all that bad. The second Master is a great Jedi, and a good friend, he just does not like his authority being challenged. The rest of the council is pretty mixed though. Come we have a lot of work to do." Galen said leading him over to the Lightsaber area, or attempting to.

"Master Zaun." A figure said leaning over by a wall.

"Jedi Gundar." Zaun said bowing.

"Actually its Master Gundar now." He said correcting, sounding arrogant.

"My mistake, its been awhile." Galen corrected, with a apologetic bow.

"Indeed it has, and this must be the reason you have been taken away from our presence for so long." Gundar said bringing his eyes around to take in the young Jedi.

"Yes, I am." Death said trying to keep his voice neutral and keep it respectful.

"Well, I hope everything goes well, we will chat again." Master Gundar said, Galen nodded at him.

"What was that about?" Death asked.

"We really do not see eye to eye on most things, come on lets go." Galen said waving Death on.

They reached the Lightsaber bay, and Death constructed one, he chose it to be a green blade just like Galen.

A simple rod that let him provide quick strikes, lightweight, and a longer blade.

"Well, on to Corellia." Galen chanted.

Death nodded and they both left for the hangar, getting on a transport and heading for Galen's home world.


	15. Discovering John

_Corellia_

Galen Zaun frowned at the ruins of the large home before him. It had the stench of death about it, the Force positively trembled with the sounds of her dying.

Emotion welled up inside of him, and warred with itself, until in the end he was just numb.

Death stood silently at his shoulder, his face impassive, the Force cloaked about him to prevent the escape of any emotion.

Galen cocked an eyebrow at him and then moved forward.

He went through the ruined door and into the room. It was dusty, and shabby, all that remained was the droid, its chest still clearly showed the burns that it had received.

But the bodies had been moved years ago.

Their presence in the Force remained. She fought for life well, clinged to it, and even her spirit held to the dead body for the longest time, wanting so desperately to live.

"How can you stand it?" Death's voice pierced the cloud that was threatening to engulf his master.

"Stand what?" Galen's eyes narrowed and he shot Death a side ways glance.

Death hardly blinked. "Oh, I have just seen so much…." his mouth twitched predictably upward… "death in my time. How can you stand it? Don't you want to hunt down the people responsible and seek revenge? I just do not understand it."

"And I hope you never do." Galen said to himself quietly, collecting the robes about him and leaving the room back to the crisp morning air.

Death followed, his reading in the Force spiked as his anger at the injustice boiled over. "So that's it? You are not going to do anything?"

"No, we are not, we are going to head into the city and make contact with the authorities and determine what happened." Galen said smoothly, his stomach turning in hot knots.

"How can you be so cold?" Death said exasperated.

"I am not, I am just trying to find out what happened, and find the answers I seek-"

"How is that good enough? There must be something more we can do here?" Death cut him off.

"There is nothing we can do, it happened years ago." Galen said an edge creeping into his voice.

"There has to be something? You do not even acknowledge her name! I do not even know it!" Death said oblivious to the building danger he was in.

Galen snapped, he spun around in a Force assisted whirlwind. Pivoting on the ball of his feet. Then just as Death registered that, he flung himself at his future padawan.

He caught Death in the midriff and flung him into the rocks and the dirt. Death bashed his head and winced painfully stars sparkling in front of his eyes.

"Ow" Death said.

Galen was enraged, a fire was burning behind his eyes, but his eyes filled with tears, he looked away from the younger man. He released his Padawan and got up, then offered his hand pilling Death to his feet. They dusted each other off.

Galen looked away and moved over to the edge of the mountain, looking out over the valley and peaks in the distance.

"I have to find my son." He moaned out.

"Your Son?" Death replied his eyes widening in shock.

"Yes." Galen admitted, collapsing in the dirt. Now that he had made the admission to his closest friend, his adopted friend, his apprentice, the rest of his emotions came flooding out. "My Only Son!" He wailed, tears pouring down his face as he cupped his hands to hide them.

Death stood behind him, a quiet and solemn sentinel over looking the scene before him. Not at all sure what to say.

Galen sniffed and sobbed, painting the ground and his sleeves in tears. He finally, after several minutes, ceased his weeping. His soul was still tormented, but he knew what would bring it some peace.

"I have to find him Death." He said quietly, trusting the Force to let Death hear him.

Just then a crunching of feet attracted both of their notice.

Galen got up in a rush, springing to his feet and bringing his Lightsaber to hand. Death followed the example and spun his simply crafted Lightsaber to, pressing the button and bringing the emerald blade to life.

A figure crested the hill and came into sight. He was approaching the area cautiously, but with curiosity etched on his face at what was making the tortured noises.

He was old, with long over grown beard and a long gray hair.

He looked at Death and froze in fear, his eyes watching and looking at the Lightsaber timidly. Finally he tore his gaze from Death and looked at the other figure.

He grinned. "Galen!" He said happily.

"Do I know you?"

"Yes sir!" He said."

Galen blinked. "…Walter?" He asked.

The man before him hmped, "No, no, its Ralph."

"Oh Ralph." Galen said curiously. He always suspected that Ralph had a thing for his lover. "What are you doing here?"

Ralph waved his hand absentmindedly and shook off the notion as being trivial. "Oh me and Arkadi grew rather close to one another while you were gone. I helped take care of her, and John, that's your son's name Galen. I was here the night it happened. And every month I make a pilgrimage, to remind myself."

"I see." Galen replied, hoping that Ralph would know the fate of his son.

Ralph's eyes filled with tears. "I am sorry Galen, but I had to take your son to an orphanage. I could not care for him at the time, and had to leave him to the care of the sisters."

Galen brightened, his eyes broke into a grin and his mustache bristled, he ran lightly and tackled Ralph, hugging the living daylights out of him.

Ralph gagged. "Well you are welcome old friend."

"Yes, thank you. We must be off, come Death!" Galen shouted.

Death bowed and followed Galen.

_The Order of Mercy Orphanage_.

John Zaun had just gotten home from school, he was tired and weary. It was the school physical assessment, he was being bullied by his local arch nemesis, he had to run and hide from him at school. The sisters would not intervene on his behalf.

When they had a quiet time he read history books on the founders of the current Republic and the history of the Clone Wars, anyway he could.

Being distracted by the girl with the blond hair every now and then.

He heard a clamor behind him and turned around curiously. The youngest girl of the orphanage was greeting two men. One was old and bearded and one was smooth skinned and young.

John was curious, he felt a magnetic pull on him, his senses were awakening again as he began to move over, almost against his will to the two men.

"John?" The young girl said interested, "well we only have one John here." she felt a presence behind her and blushed "and here he is."

John locked eyes with the older man. He looked sad and melancholy, but also happy, he was obviously at war with himself.

"Who are you?" John asked skeptically.

"John," Galen choked, and then collected himself. "I am your father."

John blinked at the mere suggestion, he was too stunned for it to even register with him. "Sorry my what?"

"Your father John." Galen said with a sad smile on his face.

John's eyes widened perceptibly. "I am sorry…." John questioned, harboring his reasons and feelings of bitterness over his past and being left alone making him doubt the word of the stranger. But yet the man _felt_ familiar.

And that made it click.

His father was a Jedi Knight. John could hardly believe it, but he felt so familiar, and the more that he probed the sensations shooting between the two of them like solar flares, the more right it felt.

John had to blink back his tears of bitter rage, trying to keep his feelings neutral. "What is your name?" His lip quivered as it seemed a crazy and stupid question to ask your father the first time out.

"My name is Galen, Galen Zaun." He replied touching his chest lightly.

"Well, my name is John. I have things to do." He hastily retorted, remembering his homework that he had to complete.

"I am sorry this will not take a lot of time, I just want to hear about your life." Galen inquired.

"Well that could take a while." John said smiling whimsically.

"Is there some place we can sit, refreshments, a lounge, somewhere we can relax?" Galen asked waving his hand around.

"Yes, this way." John inclined his head.

John led the way to a room off the main hall, it was simplistic but comfortable.

The three men sat around a table and one of the sisters served hot drinks.

John began telling Galen all about his life. Galen sat there, entrapped by his story, Death was bored.

Galen found the story of his son unique, and full of interesting life and promise. And perhaps a rare experience and perspective.

That said, Galen made a critical and hard decision, one whose repercussions he could not have even begun to realize. But it was the only way he could see going about things right now.

John finished his story and then went to go do his homework. His father told him that he was going to be taken away from here, that Galen was about to sign him out once and for all.

That process took most of the night.

Then John moved out into the cool night air, tired, weary, and wanting to go to bed.

They made their way to the space port, John slept most of the way there, waking up only when they got to their destination.

Death and Galen got out and made their way over to the ship that they traveled to Corellia in.

They punched in the commands to the communications array and then punched in the coordinates for the Jedi Temple.

They connected.

"Late you are, Master Zaun." The Grand Master of the order said as the image resolved itself in front Death and Galen.

"We know." Galen said, the long tiring emotional day getting to him.

"We have made the decision about the fate of young Death." The second master said.

"And?" Galen inquired tentatively.

"You can train him. He is now your Padawan." The Second Master reported.

"I have something else to bring before the council." Galen offered nervously.

"Yes what is it?" One of the Council asked bored.

"My son." Galen replied simply.

The Council was shocked into a silence.

"You have a son?" a voice asked off screen.

"Yes."

The Council shifted around uncomfortably, only the Grand Master was unmoving. "Have a request to make, you do?"

"Yes, he is strong in the Force-"

"Then he must be taken as a Jedi." Yet another councilor proposed.

"That, for the moment, is ultimately my decision. My proposal is that he remains in the school, as a social experiment. He has friends, loves, mentors, and is learning good experiences. I will move to Corellia and teach him, unofficially, the ways of the Force. I will also be at the sufferance of the Jedi and continue to run missions with Death and train him as my Padawan."

The Council thought for a second, afraid to make a decision, digesting the information slowly. A look of pure insight crossed the face of the eldest, wisest member of the body.

"Have our permission you do Master Zaun. The Council's authority, this is not, your son he is. Understand though, grave punishment you will face if you fail." The Grand Master proffered.

"I understand." Galen acknowledged bowing.

The Com link clicked off.

Galen looked back at his son, wondering what the future was going to hold for him, what adventures his young, 16 year old boy, was going to face.


	16. Training Day

Death twirled in the air, his saber coming down in a sweeping arch of green energy as he cleaved the training droid in two. He snapped the saber off with a click of the handle and turned around to face Galen, Galen nodded his approval.

"You are getting better at this, now that you have a proper Lightsaber in your hands." Galen mentioned pleased.

"Yes Master." Death bowed.

Galen then waved John over, it was late at night and John had just completed his homework. He was glaring intensely into the room watching the two of them…. His father and his Father's apprentice.

John had mixed feelings about what was going on between the two of them. On the one hand he liked Death, and even his father to an extent, but on the other he was jealous of the rapport they seemed to have developed.

Galen twisted his head around curiously and then made the motion with his hands again. This time more forceful, more demanding.

John sighed, he wanted to be a Jedi but there was just something…off by the whole experience.

He moved forward and joined Death, they both bowed to each other and turned to face Galen Zaun.

"Now, be mindful of your feelings. But especially mindful of the Force around you. Of the energies and sensations and echoes around you. Learn them, reach out for them." Galen intoned.

Death nodded his acceptance, his face looking contemplative. John looked curious, but he felt a jolt of energy racing up his hands and tickling his perceptions.

Galen looked between the two of them, and then sighed. "Well, that is all I have for the two of you tonight."

Death and John moved off to the other room.

"Hey Death, my school, well some of the people in it are putting together a sandlot game and they want you to come." John said staying close to Death's sleeve.

"Sure, sounds fun." Death smiled a bit, realizing they probably wanted the cool guy to come ref them or something.

John nodded and smiled, skipping off to go to bed. Death smiled again before he went through his own door to sleep.

John got up early the next morning, but still running late on his schedule. He had to eat breakfast in a rush and run out the door on his way to the hover bus that would take him to his school.

He said good bye to his father through the Force, and Death as well, who were still eating their breakfast at the table.

A smile curved Galen's lips as the spoon containing the hot steaming bittersweet stew hovered near his mouth.

"He is getting good." Galen blurted happily, downing the scalding fluid and broth burning the roof of his mouth slightly and causing him to grimace.

"What?" Death replied pausing mid bite.

"You did not feel that?" Galen asked trying to keep his voice neutral from the shock spreading through him almost as fast as the hot stew.

"No." Death said annoyed.

Galen grinned. "He is good, he is so natural at this."

Death furrowed his brows annoyed. "Who is?"

"John, he just reached out in the Force and said good bye." Galen said more to himself, beaming inside.

Death shrugged to himself and finished his stew.

"Come on we have training to do." Galen urged him with a wink.

_School of Corellia, Third District, History Department_

John was traveling down the hallways in the hustle and the bustle of the busy school. The bodies were pressed in together, and he bumped back and forth between the people in his way, saying excuse me embarrassed, getting some looks, some nods, but mostly being ignored as everyone else was also trying to get to their class.

But Jedi had to be courteous above all other things.

He finally made it to his class and was surprised to see he was one of the first ones to arrive in the spacious history room. He was soon joined by beloved teacher, and the first group of fellow classmates. He nodded friendly at all of them, but did not feel like much conversing, as he was still recovering from just getting up.

He sat down at his seat and unloaded the burdensome weight from his shoulders, getting out his supplies, data pads, equipment, stylists.

He had to wait for five minutes until the rest of the class and the teacher would start with the lesson.

Devylyn, the girl he had a crush on, sat down in front of him, he greeted her with a nod and she said hi back.

The class began, the lesson was on the clone wars on some of the more famous battles and maneuvers. It was the end of the war that attracted the note and the interests of historians.

But John had trouble concentrating on it today. He was too busy staring at the back of Devylyn's head.

He felt an odd, warm, unfamiliar stirring in the deep dark pits of his stomach.

He probed it, with the Force and his own experience and realized something.

He had to stifle a gasp as his eyes locked on her blond hair again. He liked her, he realized, he honestly liked her. Completely, fully, maybe even he lo-

"Mr. Zaun?" His teacher said annoyed.

He snapped out of it, his vision cleared and his eyes unglazed. "Yes ma'am."

"Can you tell me what happened in the battle of Christophsis between Anakin Skywalker and Admiral Trench?"

John snorted internally to himself, knowing this from his own studies. "Anakin Skywalker used the stealth ship to sneak up on Trench and blow up his command cruiser. Used his own torpedoes against him too." John did not add _if memory serves_

"Very good." His teacher drawled, then began to read from the data pad as the holo image on the front of the room resolved itself to keep up.

The back of John's neck bristled as he felt a probing sensation, a strange energy being directed at him.

He twisted around and noticed his former nemesis staring at him slyly. He and John had reached an understanding and were begrudgingly becoming friends. But John could feel that an energy force was eminating from Nealis

_Another Location._

Death was running down the street at a sprint, he leapt over a low hanging wall spinning in the air.

He landed hard and stopped, studying the area, feeling out with the Force.

He began to run again. He dodged boulders, leapt across roof tops and spun through the air.

He constantly reached out through the Force. Feeling the sensations around him. He felt exhilarated, energy raced through his body renewing him and causing him to avoid all obstacles.

But he missed, a plank of wood swung down from across the door way he was about to go through. It knocked him out has his vision exploded and was distorted.

He blinked to clear his eyes as Galen moved out from beside his cover.

"Well? Galen arched an eyebrow at his young padawan.

"I failed." Death reacted annoyed.

"Yes you did." Galen replied, hoping that Death himself would continue with his own self assessment. He sighed when it looked as though none was forthcoming. "You failed to use the Force, to be mindful of all that was happening around you. You lost your concentration."

"I understand Master." Death returned bitterly.

"You have to learn to control your emotions, to focus on what is at hand, you got too caught up in the thrill, the pursuit." Galen continued to explain, picking Death up off the ground.

"I understand, but emotion is important, it can be valuable." Death countered, grasping.

"True," Galen stroked his beard. "But it takes a good Jedi to learn to use their emotions like that, and it is not easy. Of the Dark Side that could be." Galen smiled lopsidedly. "But, you have not learned that yet."

"I know Master. I will do better."

Galen grinned. "Good, that is all I can ask." He smiled and clapped Death on the shoulder. "Lunch?"

Death beamed. "Yeah, that sounds good."

_Another location_.

Death and John were standing side by side in a bare room. In front of them was a table filled with plates, knives, napkins, assorted fruits, and a tapestry covering the whole length. It was polished wood, smooth and rich, brown in color, deep and dark.

The two of them studied it inquisitively.

Then a voice spoke down from the darkness they were engulfed in, the voice of Galen. "Remember, do not over do it, concentrate, but not too hard. The Force is perfectly natural, and so is the ability to summon what you want. Reach out your hand and your thoughts for a piece of fruit."

John and Death nodded together.

They reached out as one.

Almost instantly a piece of fruit shot from the table at John. His eyes widened as he was just barely able to halt it an inch from his face, before plucking it out of the air.

Death's spun off the table and shot towards him at an extreme rate. Death ducked and the fruit arched through the air rolling, it then stopped and sputtered almost falling before continuing more meaningfully over to Death.

Galen came out. "Good for the both of you. But we still need much practice at it, there is a huge difference between manipulating a piece of fruit, and something that may not want to come willingly. Guardians can do fruit easily." Galen grinned.

Death nodded before proceeding to meditate on what was going on.

John got up the courage and sprang after his father.

"Father."

"Yes John?" Galen inquired, turning back to his son to face him curiously.

"Do you know of any other Jedi at the school that I go to?"

"No not to the best of my knowledge." Galen said surprised, then narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"Oh no reason I was just curious." John replied, trying to keep the sudden fear out of his voice.

There was something afoot at his school, and he was at the heart of it.


	17. A Horizon Full of Storms

_Planet LJ-115- New Galactic Territories- Republic Controlled Space. _

Planet LJ-115, as designated by the Military, but known as Lesana by the local inhabitants, was a beautiful planet. It was similar to Corellia, Coruscant, and Naboo. At least similar to the Republic Capitol before it was made into a city.

Lush green plains, rolling mountains, scattered cities in a high level of development, population eight million.

It was protected by a Company of Republic troops and a full division of local defense forces. It was an old and regal feeling planet. Its inhabitants had lived under the rule of kings and emperor's for a Millennia, until the Republic came. Then at the behest of the people, and a local government coalition, they accepted Republic Membership.

They pushed out the influence of forces considered hostile by the locals, and had lived in peace ever since.

In orbit four large ships reverted to real space, fighters and small landing craft positively spilled from their hulls and within their bowels.

The combined craft dove into the Planet's upper atmosphere.

The citizens of the planet looked up in shock as the screaming of ion engines greeted their ears as the craft swooped in low.

Angry Red Dots shot forth from weapons points all along the ships, the citizens screamed in terror. Military bases, instillations, and locals were wiped out within seconds. Unprepared for the appearance of such a aggressive opponent.

The Land craft soon touched down on the planet and unloaded their cargo. Between 30-50 men or droids unloaded from each of the ships. The craft then hovered in the sky and laid down covering fire, as the teams of men gathered, and then moved out onto the survivors of the Military, the Planets Forces, and the Security Forces. Killing with deadly precision.

The battle took nearly an hour, but at the end the Governor was captured, the local legislature was dead, exiled, or seized, and the capitol city was completely occupied by enemy forces.

As was the local coliseum where the people went for entertainment of all sorts and to see their politicians speak.

Another set of craft launched from the task force of ships. It contained one sleek command shuttle and two claw like assault fighters.

They landed just in front of the Governor, who was flanked by two tall droids with battle staffs.

He looked up blearily, his eye blackened from a blow delivered by an intense ruffian. As he fell he noticed burns in the chest of his rather pretty young secretary, so much life, gone in a blink of the eye.

The ships landed and three figures were distributed. The lead was wearing a long dark cloak, that came up to his chest with a golden clasp, and a hood pulled back around the shoulders.

He made his way over to the Governor, and he grinned with sparkling white teeth. "I am Lord Reefu, you are our prisoners, do you acknowledge this fact?"

"We will be avenged, the Republic will come." The Governor uttered belligerently.

"Oh yes we can hope they do." The Lord grinned, and then swished away, directing all of his commanders to gather around him.

_Corellia_

John Zaun was preoccupied as he was walking down the hall. His head was bowed in thinking as he was barely concentrating on where he was going. All of his conflicting lessons were spinning around in his head.

He nearly bumped into a figure, stopping him short. He looked up at who it was shocked, and then nearly blushed as he recognized who it was.

"Hey." He said evenly.

"Hey John!" Devylyn yipped happily, giving him a high five.

This made him smile in pleasure.

"So what's going on?" She asked, gesturing for him to continue.

He did so taking the lead but turning towards her slightly. "Nothing much, just that all the stuff that has been happening to me is getting a bit confusing. My training and all." John explained.

"Oh? Training to be a Jedi are we?" She asked, sounding intrigued.

"Yeah. Well not really, not officially anyways, Death is my fathers official Padawan." John continued.

"Death?" Devylyn's tone was one of complete curiosity.

"Yeah, Galen found him in another Galaxy." John explained.

"Oh, I have never met your father?" Devylyn switched to a different topic.

"He is cool, but not awfully fatherly, I barely know him." John frowned.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, see ya." She smiled at him nodding as she went the other direction.

John watched her leave, too stunned to even respond. He just did not know what to do about the feelings that were boiling up through his stomach and then shooting throughout his body. This was not how it was supposed to be, Jedi were not supposed to be…flustered.

The one minute alarm sounded and John came out of his slight stupor, looking up like a startled rabbit. He made his way expertly through the crowd to his room.

It was a boring day, he learned more about the Clone Wars, all stuff he had looked into in the past, beat his own personal record in his Physical Training Class, and then mixed chemical mixtures in his Chemistry room.

He then went to have lunch. A Krayt Dragon meat sandwich, made to perfection. He wolfed it down quickly and then silently snuck away from the lunch place, and to the field where the school played tournaments. It was a slight hill that dipped down into it a bit.

He stood at the edge of the dip in his tight clothing, he looked out over the field, and then looked at the mountains in the distance.

Now that he knew how to take in the perceptions around him, the life energies, he loved doing this so much. It felt so relaxing and made him feel so alive. He just enjoyed the life energies shooting through his body.

But it was ruined. A presence behind him made him turn around and face the person who would dare disturb him. Hoping it was not an instructor, not that he was doing anything wrong exactly.

But it was Nealis, his old adversary turned quasi friend.

"Hello." John greeted.

"Hello." Nealis replied, grinning, looking as though he were up to something.

"So, doing anything?" John asked wanting to strike up a conversation, before Nealis got to his plot.

"Nothing much, just doing my thing, chasing girls, doing the whole grades thing. You?" He asked, his eyes sparkling.

"Oh nothing much." John responded.

Nealis went up next to him and looked out over the field. "Beautiful sight." He opined.

"Yes, it is." Zaun breathed.

"Been enjoying any other sights lately?" Nealis asked, coming up onto the ball of his feet and then settling back down.

"A few." Zaun replied, a sense of unease creeping into the edges of his mind.

Nealis continued to probe. "So, Devylyn, what do you think of her?"

A smile cured the edges of John's lips. "She is a wonderful person, nice and warm."

"You like her don't you?" Nealis probed.

John hesitated for a second, something seemed off, he felt an odd tearing sensation at the edge of his mind, but he ignored it. "Yes, very much so…I think I am in love." He blinked at his amazing frankness, and then continued to grow uneasy.

"OK" Nealies grinned, the alarm signaled and they both made their way to class.

Something was off about the whole thing.

_The Zaun Residence_.

Galen and Death were sparring, without the use of Lightsabers. Practicing hand to hand combat techniques.

Death stuck out with a palm and then rolled into a round house kick, moving off the ground. Galen dodged the blows easily.

"Remember, hand to hand fighting is more about precision and cunning. Many species are more imposing physically than humans, and have higher endurance." He grunted as Death palmed him in the chest and then delivered a light kick.

"It is about endurance and speed and intelligence. You cannot rely on brute strength like you can with a Lightsaber." Galen side stepped the next set of blows as he continued, "also never rely on the Force except to use it to replenish yourself or predict blows. For the Force may not always be with you. And hand to hand is not as easy to master as combat with a Lightsaber."

Death flung himself at Galen, but Galen moved in and got through his defenses, nearly elbowing him, but pulling up short just before he struck.

"Alright good fight." Galen grinned, sweat breaking out from his brow, he did not use the Force to even replenish himself. Till now. "Man am I getting too old for the work of a Sith." Galen moaned.

"Yeah." Death laughed, hardly chastised, and feeling good. Not having a single bit of sweat on him.

"You are good at this, keep it up, we might make a Jedi outta you yet." Galen teased.

Death laughed heartily.

The door whooshed open and John Zaun entered, carrying his bag full of stuff.

"Hey Son." Galen greeted, "how was school?"

"Fine." John said evenly, he then darted off to his room and closed his door.

Galen sighed confounded.

"Cheer up, he will come around." Death clapped Galen on the shoulder.

"Oh I know, but I still want to be with him and know him but he seems so busy. And perplexed. He also feels preoccupied." Galen muttered worriedly.

"Well, he will come around." Death intoned simply.

"Yeah. He seems to like you well enough." Galen looked at Death pointedly.

"Yeah, he does but he is not telling me that there is something wrong." Death frowned at the door.

"Oh well all we can do is wait." Galen shrugged going over to the kitchenette.

John moved his ear away from the door keyhole, and heaved a sigh.

He went over to his bed and collapsed on it for awhile. Wondering what to do. He could not go to Galen, his father, he could not tell him. Galen would not understand, it was just too complicated, and John was not sure if he trusted his father yet.

So he did his work and went back to his studies, before falling asleep, not eating, not doing anything other then that, planning on what was coming for the new day.

The next day dawned bright and early and John ate his breakfast before speeding out of the apartment.

He got to school early and took his usual position outside of his Modern Languages class.

He greeted the throng of people that were coming in from the busses and the student drop off point. He acknowledged his best female friend with the black hair and they chatted for a little bit.

But then Nealis came around the corner, leading Devylyn, his arms around her waist.

"Hey John." He nodded.

John's eyes widened perceptibly as he looked at the two of them shocked. His mouth moved slightly agape.

The two of them moved on through. John could swear that he felt an energy passing between the two of them, massaging her mind and making it malleable. John frowned at that.

"John what's wrong?" His companion asked him.

"Nothing." He returned with an edge slinking into the room.

The rest of the day passed in a stewing haze, he had to research this issue over the next couple of days, so he could be sure of what he was up against and what was going on.

He dropped the ball on one question asked on the novel they were studying.

He went to go home and learned what he forgot, and then made a discrete inquiry to the Jedi Library.


	18. Bottom of the Barrel

_Kuat_

Galen Zaun and Death were walking down a sidewalk several stories up in the capitol city of Kuat.

They were there to settle a mining dispute between two separate working factions on the planet. Both Guilds were trying to get a contract that had resulted in a stale mate and nearly erupted in violence. One of the groups had specifically requested Jedi intervention.

So Galen and Death were called to serve. They became close on Corellia, they were Master and Padawan, and the council did not trust them with a major mission at this time. John was not come with Galen because John was not his official Padawan.

So Galen felt like staying close to his homeworld, and was glad for the opportunity.

This was going to be a cakewalk, though a tedious and annoying one at that. The Jedi had no business in local politics, other then to help end the recession anyway that they could.

Over their heads a holoscreen was playing a feed from Cath Hound News, the most trusted name in news.

A Twi'lek newscaster was going over the various news reports of the day.

"And in the news today a Senator from Naboo was found dead in his villa. The Doctor's are saying it was poison and it is rumored to be carried out by the notorious bounty hunter Ulyus Sesh."

She took a breath and looked into the camera. "In other news a Planet in the New Galactic Territories is rumored to have been captured by an unknown force. A statement is expected later today from the Republic's diplomatic office."

"I wonder what that is about?" Death mused.

"Trouble." Galen tensed his shoulders up and glared around the street, expecting a crisis to develop at any moment.

He jumped as a voice rang out behind him. "We have been expecting you Jedi Master Zaun."

"You have?" Galen asked curious

"Yeah, Max Volgers, I am the representative that is here to meet with you." Max replied extending his hand.

"OK, take me to your leader." Galen gestured down an ally, as Max led the way.

Galen and Death exchanged a look.

_Coruscant- Diplomatic Offices_

Diplomats scurried this way and that way in a half panic as they were attending to fifty different tasks all at the same time.

Nothing like this had happened in the Republic in a long time, and they were not sure exactly what to do about the escalating crisis in the New Galaxy.

It had been about six days since the original message was intercepted by The Republic. Declaring that they had captured the planet in the name of the Alliance, and that no Jedi were to be allowed entry, though they would except a diplomatic envoy.

A Jedi Master was immediately dispatched from Kandar to go negotiate and investigate the situation, and to determine the exact nature of the threat.

The Republic Diplomatic Office on Kandar had received a message of the Jedi, who was hanged, with his throat cut from end to end and a message stating this was their last warning.

This sent the Diplomatic Corp into a frenzy, along with the Military.

They were now preparing a report for the Chancellor on the tactical and diplomatic situation on the surface of the planet. A Republic Cruiser-Carrier had sent probe droids to determine the strength of the enemy forces. They discovered a Cruiser type ship still in orbit, and at least a division on the planets surface, around the coliseum and along the route to the Capitol.

The two Flag Officers standing like sentinels towards one edge of the room only served to increase the sense of the diplomat's unease.

But they had a job to do and they had to give the Chancellor their best information and analysis so he could determine whether he would call in a Military action or if he would go the diplomatic route.

Knowing the Chancellor made the diplomats shoot furtive and telling glances at one another.

_Corellia_

John Zaun was in the school library, he was off to the corner of the computer lab portion of the library. The lights were dimmed and he was staring at a computer monitor absorbing all the information racing on the screen. Reading up on techniques of mind control and manipulation, both unknown in theory, pop culture, and real life, going out from the most unlikely means, to Jedi Mind tricks and other means of control.

He had been here for nearly an hour, he had dimmed the lights using the Force which set up a suggestion in the air not to enter, thus hoping to keep anyone from disturbing his vital work.

He had finally got to the Jedi section, it was almost time to go.

"John?" The librarian poked his head into the room. "Just what are you doing in here?"

"Just doing some research sir." John recited his planned response.

"Better be good, you need to go to class in a few minutes." The librarian warned.

"I know that." John muttered.

"Well good luck." The Librarian left the room, sounding worried.

John sighed and got back to it. His eyes darted across the screen as he read the rest of the information at lightning fast speed.

"_The Jedi Mind trick is a way to exert some control over minds and beings. To 'trick' the mind into doing a task, or looking the other way. The weaker the target mind, the more control that can be exerted over the subject. Eventually leading to full control. Especially if the aggressor is strong in the Force, has a strong personality, and has practice with this kind of control. A wave of the hand, while suggested, is not necessary. It exerts Force energies to enter the brains cortex allowing for more direct control, but again this is not required." _

John frowned just as the alarm sounded. He had to rush to his next class, and he sure had a lot to think about. And his father was unavailable to him for advice or anything else.

He moved into the halls and ran into Nealis and Devylyn making out, Nealis was still generating that odd energy. Nealis smiled as John passed as if to gloat and then returned back to his activity.

John scowled and moved to quicken his pace as he moved past the two of them.

He felt a burning painful sensation in his gut. He had to get to the bottom of this. He had to find out the truth, and find out just how Nealis was manipulating the situation.

John froze suddenly. He could not do this. He was letting the fire in his heart consume him and cause him to do some really unwise things. He had to get a grip on himself and deal with this coolly and rationally. Maybe Nealis was not guilty after all?

John gritted his teeth and hurried to his class. Infuriated at himself for the thoughts he was having.

His best friend greeted him "what's wrong?"

But John ignored her, barely hearing her as he took his seat.

The next day dawned bright and early. With his fretting over the situation he was in, and that Galen was not there to make him get up, he just barely made it in time for the school transport.

However, it arrived early. It was a cool morning, low hanging fog still blanketed the ground making it hard to see.

John carefully made his way over to the courtyard where they had lunch, and sat down, resting his head on his arms as he tried to get a few minutes peace and quiet before the start of another long and monotonous day.

A presence made his head snap up, he glared around through the fog. It was Devylyn.

"Hey Devylyn." He blurted before he could stop himself.

She turned and smiled warmly back at him. "Hey John." She joined him at the table, her golden locks falling across her lap.

"So how are you? she asked merrily.

"I am fine, a bit tired right now." He replied.

"Yeah I know, early start." She sympathized with him.

John took an internal breath, held it for five seconds and then released it, "so, how is Nealis treating you?"

"Nealis, my boyfriend?" She asked curious as to what he had to do with John's mood.

"Just curious, I just want to make sure she is treating you alright." John tried to keep his voice from cracking dangerously, all the calming techniques that he had learned from his father had fled him in his panic.

"Oh." Devylyn regarded him skeptically. "He is fine." She paused for a second, then frowned, turning in on her self in deep thought, "I don't know there is just something about him." She brightened suddenly. "But he is fine, the best lover I have ever had." She turned back to John grinning at him like the school girl she was.

"But he is treating you alright, you are happy?" John pressed, finally able to get his emotions under control.

She smiled at him. "You are really sweet my friend, but yes, I am very happy with him. He has shown me so much."

John mulled this over for a second, he felt somehow relieved that she would actually say that she was happy away from his presence. That she obviously cared for him, and he may have had nothing to worry about after all.

"Hey, Devylyn, care for a game of sabaacc?" A female voice drifted through the fog.

She beamed at them. "Sure!" She flicked her head back at John, "see ya."

"Bye." He replied despondently.

That could have not have worked better, he thought to himself. Devylyn was happy, and probably of her own free will, and it was clear that Nealis was treating her right.

He blew out a long breath through his cheeks in relief.

Still something did not feel right to him. An unease about the situation that continued to perculate on the edges of his personal feelings.

He knew what it was, a small twinge of jealousy. Maybe that was all this ever was? But still, he was uncomfortable with the situation, and even though he had gained new insight onto his motivations he could still follow through on the hunch.

So, he resolved to continue to observe. To be her protector from afar if need be, to watch, analyze, and use his natural ability in the force, to stay on top of any problem and continue to seek the truth. And should a conflict arise, and should his worse fears prove to be valid. He would deal with it.

As any good Jedi should.

_Kuat._

It had been nearly an hour as Galen Zaun had followed their guide through a random assortment of tunnels, sewers, and side streets.

They finally arrived at a dimly lit underpass for one of the main sewers running throughout the area, at this point Death was annoyed at Mr. Volgers and at the journey that he had led them through.

"We are here." Max raised his hand stopping the two Jedi.

Figures crept out of the shadows on all sides, and they matched every stereotypical way to the definition of 'shady.'

"I am Jedi Master Galen Zaun." Galen was unmoved by the display.

"And I am the leader, you may refer to me as such." A hooded figure off to the right introduced himself. Galen turned to regard the newcomer.

"What do you want?" Galen asked pointedly.

"To deal with you personally, and to explain our case before you deal with our richer counterpart." The leader replied, his voice echoing due to an amplifier of some sort.

"We are Jedi Knights, we are not authorized to negotiate with either party separately, only both parties at once as per your request. If you have a complaint to make I suggest you bring it up with the Kuat labor relations board." Galen explained their official position.

Cool waves of anger rolled off Death as he got ready to spring into action at the first sign of trouble.

"Well, we want to deal with the Jedi masters personally. Without the bias of the other side getting in the way." The leader persisted.

"You seem to have us at a disadvantage." Galen spoke wryly, knowing it to be untrue and finding it ironic that he had to play along.

"Yes, we do." The leader sounded pleased with his daring and his cunning plan. First invite the Jedi here, and then have a chat with them about the evils of the big Kuati firm. "We have a proposal to make."

"Go on." Galen gestured.

"We want you to rule in our favor. The firm that we are engaged with has exploited the underclass businesses, and citizenry to make a tidy profit in the middle of massive economic strife. They have exploited the lower class citizenry, and have sanction from the Government."

"It is not the official policy of either the Government of Kuat, or the Government of the Republic to hold one company, business, or firm in regard over any other." Galen explained simply, warning bells beginning to activate as his neurons fired.

"They turn a blind eye to our plight, all the while the big firm robs us blind. It's the same thing" A voice sneered beyond where Galen could see.

Who was he dealing with? Galen wondered to himself, he reached out his force and touched his Lightsaber, assured that it was there and he was safe.

"Again I cannot speak for the Government, the only reason I am here is you asked me to mediate a contractual dispute between you and your competition over a set contract. That is all I intend to do, fairly and honestly, with favor to none. Believe me when I say, this will be in my report." Galen warned as a final parting shot before getting up to leave. Death bowed to the group before following his master out.

The assembled throng was too stunned to even follow the two of them as they left the sewers at a brisk pace.


	19. Life Changer

_Corellia. _

John Zaun was walking out of the structure from his physical training class, his head was bowed low in thought and in weariness. Even though, over the last year, his shape and physical prowess had improved greatly he was still not quite there yet.

Add onto that his father was not yet there, and the school was gearing up for the push into the last couple of weeks and all the tests that came along with that.

So John was busy studying, and exercising, and his soul was not quite healed over being burned.

He heard two voices speaking in his path. He looked up curious to see what was going on, and recognized Devylyn and Nealis. Curious he looked at them closer, she seemed to be tense, her whole posture radiated annoyance and unease. His face was jutting out at her and he was wearing a scowl, he seemed to be regarding her with contempt.

His senses started to turn on, slowly, he moved closer, silently, getting into range to see what he could hear, he was uncertain but he was sure that something was wrong.

"But Nealis I really want to go, I do not hang out with my girlfriends that much anymore, and tonight was our night of the month to go to the spa." Devylyn pleaded.

Nealis looked exasperated, he flung his arms around for a second groping for words, but then a sly smile crossed over his face. "You will not go out with your girlfriends tonight." He commanded running a hand across her eyes.

Devylyn went limp, her facial features slackened and her hands unclenched at her sides. "I will not go out with my girlfriends tonight." She repeated in a monotone voice.

"You will have dinner with me tonight." He continued.

"I will have dinner with you tonight." Devylyn repeated in the same tone as before.

John's eyes bulged, and a gasp escaped his lips before he could stop himself.

Nealis's head shot around as he smiled wolfishly. "Ah little John." He mocked threateningly.

John blushed, he could feel his passions boiling up to the surface. Waking his body up, setting his soul on fire, and making him shake with barely controlled emotion. He could hardly believe that he was right and that he now had the perfect confirmation.

"You!" He barked, students passing the scene stopped, stunned, and looked between the two of them, now noticing that something was up.

"Yes, what about me?" He responded, teasing John.

John yelled with a feral rage, and flung himself at his opponent, Devylyn was just able to step out of his way.

His opponent was waiting for him though, with an easy smile he stepped out of the way and stuck his foot out.

John tripped, but was prevented from falling down due to Nealis catching him breaking his fall. John flung his elbow out, Nealis caught it with ease. John was then gut punched, causing him to lose breath and was lifted just an inch off the ground. He was then kicked in the chest by Nealis, he flew through the air about five feet, lifting off the ground and slamming in hard against the wall.

He slid down it back to the ground, regaining his breath. He cleared his head and glared at Nealis, trying to figure out what had hit him.

John internally winced, Nealis could use the Force, he obviously had some Jedi training, so why not martial arts training as well?

Nealis was looking at John in triumph.

John picked himself up off the ground, and dusted the pants of his robes off. The assembled students watching the battle were standing there, unmoving, as if they were in a trance. They probably were, John smiled to himself grimly.

They circled each other for a minute, getting closer and closer to one another. Until John flung his arm out trying to connect with Nealis's skull.

Nealis intercepted it and caught John's arm by the elbow, then he twisted the skin around. John grimaced, clenching his teeth in pain as it arched up and down the length of his arm.

An angry fire burned behind his eyes, he accessed the part of his soul and his inner being that Death always said to use. He tapped into it, feeding off of it and letting the energy fill his body from toes to fingertips.

He kneed Nealis in the stomach. Nealis released him and stumbled back. John pressed his advantage. Nealis struck, and each one of his strikes John blocked, seemingly knowing right where the blows were coming from.

Nealis was growing tired. John's energy continued to fuel him up and ignite in him, he kicked Nealis in the stomach twice and then ducked as Nealis swung his arms wildly trying to land a final strike.

Nealis overcompensated and landed on John's back, John pushed him off with a yell of triumph. Nealis rolled off and landed hard on the pavement, the crunching of a breaking bone pierced the air.

Nealis whimpered slightly, he tried to get up off the ground, but John was there. He fell upon his opponent knees first, gutting his nemesis. He then looked around, finding a short metal pipe, gray in color.

He held out his hand and summoned it to him. The pipe flew into his hand and he pulled his arm back, cocking it, ready to strike.

Nealis looked up, he was panicking but yet was still defiant.

"This is for her!" John yelled out, and he swung, with all the fury, passion, and strength that he currently possessed.

Nealis yelped in pain as it connected, his face was flung back into the pavement hard.

But John did not relent. He yelled out with fury, and swung again and again, swinging with the full force of his body, taking hard, precise strikes.

Eventually Nealis was unmoving as the blows continued to land on his head, his ear was bleeding and blood pooled on the ground by his mouth.

Something in John snapped. He picked Nealis's head up, he cradled it, and his heart nearly broke. Nealis's head was reduced to a bloody pulp, his face contorted, his teeth were broken, and his eyes were closed. Black and blue bruises were all over his face.

He had to stifle a murmur, and then it flooded out. He wept, tears streamed down his face in a flood. He moaned and yelled out in pain and misery to the sky, cradling the head of his one time friend, one time enemy.

He suddenly felt powerful arms lifting him up and off the body of Nealis. He was limp and he did not resist as the Dean of Students dragged him off to the office.

Devylyn ran and fell at Nealis's side, and she was whimpering, crying as she checked on her boyfriend. She then turned to John, enraged, a fire burning in her eye as everything about her body said she was on positive grief, and passion. "You Monster!" She screamed at John. "How could you do that?"

John had no answer for her as he was dragged around the corner, folding in on himself, reflecting on the shock of his tragic mistake.

_Kuat_

Galen Zaun was sitting around an ornate conference table.

The mission that he was glad for mere weeks ago turned into pure torture. He had to listen to the two respective opponents bicker about their positions. They attempted to 'explain' their respective stances, only succeeding in yelling at each other, and over each other.

This caused Galen great pain, as he spent more time with his face in his hands wincing over the two sides fighting with one another. He had no patience for this, and Death was showing the restraint of the eldest of Jedi Masters, as he was radiating impatience, anger at the two parties, and wanting to decapitate everyone in the room with his Lightsaber.

Galen suddenly winced. A shockwave in the Force hit his head full force causing his sinuses to explode with pain blotting out his vision.

"Master?" Death looked at Galen.

Galen probed the tremor in the Force, and nearly gasped at what he found. John was in pain, terrible pain, self loathing, self pitying, and recriminating pain. But also rage, fear, and despair.

Galen ran down the thread and saw what had happened, what John had done. He closed his eyes in pain, in despair and shared the pain with his son. Galen felt this was all his fault, his soul was heavy with sudden guilt.

"Master?" Death probed again, sounding alarmed.

Galen's eyes snapped open. "Ummm…it's nothing Death. We need…we need a break. Let's take a recess."

The two respective groups looked at him in shock, wondering what had happened. Galen had no time to deal with this, as he got up and left the room.

Death joined him.

"Master?" Death sounded stunned.

Galen went to a ship vendor and bought a space on a ship bound for Corellia.

"You are heading home?" Death asked.

"Yes. Something is up with John."

Death's eyes widened. "John? Did something happen?"

"I do not know, Death." Galen half lied. "I just know I have to get home, alone. Stall them."

Death winced at the thought but nodded his acceptance as Galen nodded his good bye. He ran down the alley heading for the outbound ship.

_Corellia_.

John Zaun was sitting outside of the office. His arms were folded in his lap, his eyes were still somewhat moist, and he was staring at the floor blankly in guilt.

He felt devastated, empty, like a big pit of nothingness had opened up in his stomach.

The only thing he was focusing on, the only thing that his senses were receiving was the conversation that was going on in the other room. The Principal's voice was raised, while his father's was doing its best to stay calm, but it was positively dripping guilt and shame.

"Look if it were up to me I would bring charges against him. He beat a student, within an inch of his life, no telling when Nealis will be able to recover, will be able to come back to school. This has cost the school valuable money, and his family time and bereavement." The Principal reiterated his position hotly.

"I understand your position but this remains an internal Jedi issue. The Council has pardoned him from any legal punishment and we _will_ deal with him." Galen explained through gritted teeth.

"Not good enough, he will just go free." The Principal snapped.

"Somehow I doubt that." Galen spat back, and then sighed. "Look, nothing like this has happened in ages. I am sure the council will reach a just conclusion."

Galen turned to leave the room and collected his son. John gulped.

"I will fight this." the Principal threatened.

John could feel his father turn around and regard the Principal curiously. "Your main consideration has been about money, if you take this up in the courts it will take months. And the High Court of the Republic will not consider a matter like this to be of the gravest matter considering they have hundreds of cases involving rights and contracts to consider."

The Principal sighed. John then heard him blow out a long breath through his cheeks. He sounded defeated, "alright, I can see your wisdom, I just hope justice is done." The Principal gave a final warning.

"It will be, I will make sure of that." Galen left the room bowing. Swiftly leaving in a billowing of robes. "Come son!" He said.

John glumly got up and continued to stare at his feet, acutely aware this was the last time he would be leaving this school and the last time he would see any of his few friends.

This sent his mood spiraling out of control.

He stared at his feet and shuffled them on the smooth surface outside of the school following several steps behind his father.

His father turned to him when they made it to the speeder bay and when they were alone.

"So?" Galen asked.

John looked at his father, looking up from his own shame.

Galen stopped and arched an eyebrow at him.

"I, I, I cannot explain it father. No excuse." John intoned, casting his eyes to his left as his eyes filled up with tears.

Galen sighed dramatically. "What happened exactly?"

John bit his lip, and he whimpered. "I…..father…I did not feel I had a choice. He was controlling her, manipulating her."

"Who?" Galen demanded to know.

"Devylyn, one of my friends…I liked her Dad." John explained hollowly.

"Why am I just hearing of this now? Galen pressed his son, feeling a spike of anger that he quickly tried to suppress.

"I…have no excuse. I..you were so distant. And then you left. I felt I could handle this on my own, did research on the matter by myself, and he was using the Force to manipulate her."

"The Force?" Galen narrowed his eyes unbelievably.

"That is what I believe to have happened, father." John continued.

"Oh." Galen responded.

Galen felt devastated, he felt alone, and depressed. He had failed his son and let this happen, and his son had failed him. They were alone in their responsibility and would now have to face the Council. He was speechless, his shame caused him to be this way. He did not know what to say, and had to heal, had to move past this, and figure out the proper words of comfort and the proper conversation to have with his son.

They walked to the transport and got in.


	20. New Duty

_Jedi Temple_

John Zaun was shuffling behind the billowing forms of Galen and Death. His eyes were down cast as he was making his way through the halls of this most sacred of temples.

He looked up suddenly, startled. He had lost site of his father and of Death, he must have taken a wrong turn. And now he had no idea where he was in the large facility.

He would not panic, he was too dead inside to do that.

Instead he picked a likely direction, and walked down that way, staring down the hall and reaching out with the Force to feel his father, feel where he was. Instead he picked up an odd fluctuation, an intense blast of emotion before he could pick up Galen.

He arched his eyebrow and followed it, wondering what it was that was causing such a wave of powerful and intense emotions.

As he approached the sounds of hissing and clashing Lightsabers reverberated grandly down the walls of the hall he was in. Curious, all sense of guilt or shame at his actions, but with a sense of caution, he continued, pressing himself against the wall.

He peered into the recreational room and saw a dazzling display.

An Orange shaft of energy was swinging and jerking through the air against a Green shaft. An intense display of grunts and moans greeted his ears as the two of them attacked and counter attacked with sweeping, but precise, strikes.

He was entranced by the majestic display.

The two combatants snapped off their weapons with a hiss, and then bowed at each other low to the ground.

They then broke out into a fit of laughter. There were two of them, a Man and a Woman Jedi. The Woman was clearly the Master and the man the apprentice.

She was physically fit, with soft brown eyes and her hair was cut short, right down to her neck. Rich mahogany Brown was its color. The man had piercing blue/gray eyes. He was a bit on the buff side, and close cropped hair, in almost a military style.

"Well that was fun." The Woman smirked at the man with a wink.

"Yeah, it was." He grinned back, moving over to her and giving her a hug.

John was startled, and guilty, the full force of why he was here hit him in the stomach again. He nearly gasped.

She hugged him back and muttered to him to where John could not hear them. He nodded and moved around her, putting his arms around her waist and stomach from behind.

"It's going to be soon my love." He soothed.

"I know, Amann, but I do not know if I can keep it going that long. It's so hard." She whimpered slightly, not sounding at all like a Jedi Master.

"I know, I know." Amann sighed. "But look, it's only going to be a couple of months until I can take the trials. And then we can come forward. At that point it will not matter how we feel about each other, even if they suspect that we had our relationship before I became a Knight there is nothing they can do about it. We will no longer have the Master Student relationship. We will have to be careful until then."

"I just do not know, it's still so far from now." She moaned. "I do not know if we can…if I can hold on that long."

"Well, you are going to have to…for both our sakes…we will just have to be care-Hey what are you doing here?" Amann noticed John and then yelled at him.

John ran like a startled rabbit, panic started to roll off the Jedi Master as he fled down the hall.

He turned left, then right, and down another hallway.

He finally slowed down to a normal trot as passing Jedi and other Sentients started to look at him confused, worried at his sudden panicked appearance.

"John?" The voice of his father asked from behind him, obviously concerned.

"Father!" John ran into the arms of his father.

"What's wrong?" Galen asked, "we thought we had lost you."

"Oh nothing." John dismissed, figuring it was none of his business what he just saw, "I got lost is all."

"OK." Galen said, deciding not to press it for now. "Come we are running late for the council meeting."

John followed Galen down the hall, biting his lip, worrying about what he was soon to face.

They arrived in the Council Chambers, most of them were alert and attentive but some of the others were stirring, looking bored, until they saw that their query had finally arrived.

"You are late," the Second Master reminded them.

"I know, I got lost." John volunteered shrilly,

"Oh that makes everything all better now." The Second Master smirked, half amused and half annoyed at the situation.

"I am sorry for the delay." Master Zaun simply apologized.

"It is accepted" The Second Master granted, and then turned to the Grand Master of the Order.

"Master and Son Zaun, young Death, gathered here today you are, for the judgment of a grave crime." The Grand Master explained, letting them know why they were here, for official book keeping. "Of the gravest importance this matter is. In Jedi History, nothing like this, happened has not. Explain yourself young Zaun."

John sighed, and then told his story the best way he could.

"It started a couple of months ago, I developed, a crush on this girl…" His voice caught in his throat painfully, he cleared it and continued. "Over several months I began to suspect her boyfriend was using the Force to manipulate her. Then I saw him do what looked like a Jedi Mind trick on her. Controlling her actions. I snapped. I could not take it anymore and I had to come to her defense, to save her."

"So you beat a boy within an inch of his life?" One of the Masters on the council asked skeptically.

John's voice quivered as he answered the question, " I did get a little carried away…yes."

Galen closed his eyes and waves of pain rolled off him for the whole room to feel, they tried to ignore it, getting to the duty at hand, truth be told it annoyed some of them.

"Master Zaun, what do you have to say for yourself?" The Second Master pressed, turning to regard Galen with a probing stare.

Galen opened his eyes slowly, and then fixed the elder Jedi with a stare of his own. He took a moment to compose himself before responding. "No excuse, the responsibility is mine and mine alone. I put him in that situation and did not probe when I knew there was something amiss about him. I failed him, so he failed."

"So you did." The Second Master harshly rebuked.

Galen closed his eyes again and nodded, he felt ashamed. John felt shocked at the situation that was developing before him. How could he do this? How could his own father take the fall for something he did not even do? And how could the council let him get away with it?

It was his problem, his mess, his mistake, why should his own father pay for something that he did to _himself. _

The whole situation made him angry, and filled his soul with a rebellious steel.

"But what about the other Jedi? What punishments will he face?" John questioned boldly.

The Council descended into a shocked and uncomfortable silence, some of them even shifted in their seats awkwardly. Finally the Second Master decided to probe the meaning of the questioning behind the brash youth. "What other Jedi?"

"The one at the school, the one who I fought. The 'Force Sensitive" I did battle with." John was shocked that he had to remind the council, which just served to anger him further.

"There are no other Jedi at that school boy." The Master had him the question before snapped dramatically, his sense through the Force expanding outwards.

Galen arched an eyebrow at the senior member of the council but did not decide to comment. He could not comment, not now, not how he felt or the position he was in.

An uncomfortable silence pervaded the Chambers, as the Councilors looked at one another awaiting each other to make some sort of decision.

"We will need some time to consider the evidence, and the testimony." The Second master nodded at the group.

They bowed and left the room.

"Well, that was…uncomfortable." Death remarked.

"Yes, it was." Galen replied, with his voice dry and dripping sarcasm.

"Look, I also want to take responsibility with this." Death frowned. "I mean, I provided a bad example and did not do my part in it."

Galen sighed. "Look, we all played a role in this, we are all to blame for our failure."

John just stayed silent watching the two elder Jedi argue with one another.

Death sighed. "Well I should go get some lunch." Death tousled John's head before heading out. "Take care kid." He shouted over his shoulder.

John turned to his father and shifted uncomfortably, he stared down at his feet tentatively.

Galen hardly knew what to say.

"So, you acted on your own?" He asked his son.

"Yes I did." John replied simply.

"Well, why?" Galen continued to press his son.

John looked up with narrowed eyes and glared at his father darkly. "Because you were not there, you would not have understood anyways. You were never there since I have been alive."

Galen closed his eyes, pained. Then he sighed. "I have been such a terrible father to you, a much better Master and teacher to Death than with anything I have done with you. I guess I just do not know how to deal with it. The responsibility. And I lost it, I just could not bring myself to bear. I kept myself distant, and for that I will forever beg your forgiveness. Even though I am not sure I will get it."

Galen was tortured, he failed, and he knew it.

John sighed too, his eyes tearing slightly. "Why father, why?"

Galen smiled wanly. "Oh….oh John. You were a…..reminder of the past. A reminder of my Arkadi, and it has been so painful for me the last couple of weeks watching you grow. I have tried to be there for you…but you have not always made it easy for me over the last couple of months."

"I know." John's voice cracked "and I am sorry. I am so sorry, and I will beg your constant forgiveness."

Galen smiled, a sad smile, but genuine. "Well, all we can do is move forward and move on from here, and try our best to heal our wounds, and to spend time with each other."

"Well, I will try." John smiled.

"As will I" Galen smiled, clapping his hand on both shoulders. "Though, we cannot know what the future holds." Galen warned, suddenly getting a bad feeling.

"I know father, I know." John responded, feeling contemplative. "Tell me about my mother?" John asked, feeling curious all of a sudden.

Galen sighed, stroking his beard. "She was, wonderful. One of the prettiest girls I have ever seen. The prettiest I have ever had the fortune of meeting. Sharp as a whip though, and kind, a perfect person for me."

John looked on with rapt attention hoping that his father would continue.

He did not disappoint. "She made me remember what I was fighting for and always kept me grounded. Even when she did not have too much Force Sensitivity herself. She was kind and charitable, and a helluva cook too."

John smiled, grinned, he was hoping to have more conversations like this, more questions that he could ask, but he did not get the opportunity.

"The Council will see you now." A pretty young Jedi aid came out of the Council Chambers.

Galen got off the ground and nodded, "we will be there in a second, we are just waiting on Death."

"He has been sent for," the aide smiled as suddenly they heard a huffing and puffing as Death ran to catch back up with them.

The three of them entered the council chambers.

"Reached our decision, we have." The Grand Master announced.

"Go on." Galen said after a silence of several seconds.

"John will become my new padawan." The Second Master ordained.

"I will?" John gasped.

"Yes. You need disciplining, you need seasoning, you need to be watched. You are going to be put on the probation for the duration to determine if you will make a Jedi Knight. If not, you will be exiled. We will deal with any situation as they arise." The Master explained.

"Is that all?" Galen asked, shocked, he could not believe his fortune or his luck that his son was getting another chance. Hoping that he would make the best of it.

"Yes that is-" The Second Master was interrupted by the appearance of the Jedi aid. She bowed to the council. "What is it?" The Second Master inquired curiously.

"Chancellor Loraan has just established communication with us, between us and the military, he says it is urgent."

The Second Master cocked his eyebrow. "Come, John, Master Zaun, Death, we will go answer the Chancellor's summons."

John was surprised again, but he tried to hide it as he made his way to follow the Second Master out.

"Wait." The Grand Master's voice pierced the air. "Come I will, see this I must." He pressed a button as his couch floated off the ground so he could join them.

_The Jedi Com Room_

John Zaun walked into a darkened room. A light blue hue was coming from the walls, making it look cold, and military. Around the communication display were the holograms of four people.

Chancellor Loraan, with little hair left on his mostly bald head, and what few of those that were left were gray. He wore simple black robes that did not have many of the ornaments of his office.

The second one was a high ranking Republic General. He wore gaudy and ornate medals pinned to his chest after many years of, mostly political, service. He looked old, and contemplative, aggressively analyzing friend and foe alike.

The third was a member of the Republic Diplomatic core, Kamioan by the look of her, her long neck and pale gray skin contrasting oddly with her flowing black gown.

And the fourth was a simple aid to the Chancellery, always following him, always in his presence, always jotting down notes and giving opinions, sometimes close to the Chancellor. She was a young aid, simple were her clothes, a tan jump suit.

"Finally the Jedi Masters have graced us with their presence." The General said disdainfully.

The hologram of the Chancellor shot him a look, before proceeding. "I take it that you have heard of the events that have been transpiring in the New Galactic Territories?"

"On Planet LJ-115?" The Second Master asked to make certain.

"The same." The Chancellor nodded.

"We are well aware of the events, a Jedi was killed in this crisis, Supreme Chancellor" The Second Master bitterly reminded.

"We have made all recourse in this situation, to no effect. After the death of the Jedi a couple of days ago, and the distribution of the report from the diplomatic office, I feel we have no choice but for a Military Option." Chancellor Loraan explained, pain lurking in his eyes.

"We will be ready Chancellor, already we are putting together a plan to deploy a Battalion of the Omegas, three Cruisers, and One Division of Regulars." The General reported confidently.

"Based on our investigation we will be facing at least a Division of troops, and unknown Droid support, we cannot just go in there. But, all diplomatic inquiries have failed." The Ambassador sorrowfully reported.

"I agree." The Chancellor held up a hand. "Which is why I am ordering that the Division of Regulars should attach themselves with an armored force on Kandar."

"That will delay our attack." The General scowled bitterly.

"But not by long, and it will give the Jedi enough time to help, that is if the Jedi are in a position to help?" The Chancellor asked.

"We are." The Second Master said with confidence.

"How long will it take you to get your forces into position with the Jedi?" The Chancellor queried the General.

The General sighed, resigned to the Chain of Command "Two weeks."

"Very well, the diplomatic core has two weeks to reach a peaceful solution to this problem, I want nothing less then the planet back and full diplomatic relations. If you cannot secure those two conditions, than the military will attack."

The Ambassador nodded, gulping.

"Questions?" The Chancellor gazed around the room. "No? Good, dismissed."

The holo projector turned off.

John frowned as he went to go ask his father something. "Why was the General so rude?"

"I do not know the man myself, but his reputation indicates he does not like to be kept waiting, that is probably all it is." Galen tugged at his chin.

"Well gentlemen, I suggest we get to the fighter and locker bays." The Second Master clapped Galen on the shoulder.

"We have a war to prepare for."


	21. First Blood

_R.W.S. Han Solo. _

John Zaun was wandering the huge halls of the ancient Republic Battle Cruiser, the oldest of her class still serving.

He had learned much in the two weeks, from his Master, Jedi Master Windsword. When Jedi Councilors were in council they were to be called by rank, and position, but when they were in the field, their padawans, could call them by their given name.

But he had learned much in the two weeks from his Master, but they were primarily of a competitive nature. Lightsaber skills, learning the basics of Form I, and even some rudimentary Form III, so he would have some hope of surviving the coming storm. He had taken to Form III quite easily, learning the basics quickly, and showing much growth. The perfect Guardian, master of the sword, that was his chosen path, and blue was his Lightsaber color.

He was wondering the halls of this mighty vessel in a stupor, going over, in his mind, all that he had learned, trying desperately to recall it all, while looking for his father. The two of them had reconnected over the two weeks.

Crewmen passed him by, noticing him even though he unknowingly did not extend them the same courtesy. They gave him respect, he was obviously a Jedi, he had the robes and the weapon to prove it.

But look at how young he is! They thought as they passed him, he was younger then a good majority of the overly young crew. This was their first taste of battle, they were scared and panicked, trying desperately to hold onto some piece of reality and stability.

They found it in a young Jedi. For they knew that John Zaun was scared, knew him to be terrified of the storm they were all going to face together, on the frontlines, away from the confident Generals in their plush offices in the Republic. They knew that he was one of them. Despite the mask of contemplation that John Zaun tried to put himself they knew, they could tell.

And this endeared him to a group of soldiers, a concept that would serve John well in the years ahead, and make him much loved and respected by countless people in the trials ahead.

They were all in this together.

_Crew Quarters_

Galen Zaun was sitting on the floor of his small cabin, knees crossed together, and pointing upwards at his chin. On the floor before him were the final components that he needed to put together to complete his new Lightsaber.

It was a tradition in this new incarnation of the Jedi Order that Masters got to chose a new Lightsaber color, and rebuild their weapon. That the three basic colors need not apply and this could give them a position of status, personality, and individuality.

Green for the Councilors, Yellow for the Sentinels, and Blue for the Guardians.

He just never bothered to change. Most Jedi didn't. Even the Grand Master did not, and he could choose a Golden Lightsaber in deference to the highest position in the Order that he held.

But, he had decided the time was right.

So much had changed in his life. Arkadi, the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with, was dead and long gone. He was now training another Padawan, the young Death. And to top it all off he had a son to worry about, who had shown a propensity for acts of aggression.

So he had to change, he needed a change.

So he stared down at the final components fretfully wondering how to complete the weapon.

On the one hand it was somberly easy. Building a Lightsaber, the first time, could take months, or even years.

Depending on the Jedi's own personal preference, his want for exotic symbols to personalize it, to the Jedi's own personal quirks and habits.

But on the other it was exceedingly difficult, and for many of the same reasons that made it easy.

Putting that much time, effort, and artistic care into an instrument that you would be carrying into battle formed a bond between the Jedi and his or her weapon.

But that same bond was supposed to be formed in the creation of the 'Master's Blade'.

But he had taken only two weeks to build it.

And only a fraction of the time was spent working on the blasted thing! Listening to briefings, catching up on tactical reports, and preparing a plan of battle with the other Jedi and the Military on this vessel was quite time consuming.

And so he sat.

The truth of the matter he was almost done, and knew what he wanted the final piece to look like, but there was an air of finality to it if he finished. Finally casting off the old and taking on the new. Galen wondered if this occurred to most Jedi when they completed this task.

He sighed finally, reaching down, and delicately putting the last pieces on, the activation plate. Satisfied he smiled grimly looking down at the finished product, getting up off of his knees, and summoning it, hefting the object.

The hilt was smaller than most standard blades, and thus the blade itself would be smaller still. It had a standard activation plate and three claw like protrusions sticking out by the edge of the blade projector.

He activated it, the bronze beam hissed on almost instantly, without hesitation springing to new life. Galen figured it was a more subdued color than the vibrant green he had chosen before. Mirroring what his life had become. He felt a warm, satisfied feeling in the pit of his stomach as he gazed along the blades length and breadth, knowing this was his now.

He heard a chime at the door.

"Come" He answered, snapping the blade off.

The door whooshed open with a rush of air, and Master Windsword was just standing there, curiously looking into the room.

"Master Zaun, you know we are about to revert into a combat situation." Windsword chastised.

"Yes, I did know that." Galen replied simply, "I just had to finish up on a few things, get my new weapon ready."

"Oh." The Jedi Councilor mouthed taken slightly aback and was surprised. "Well, shall we go to the bridge then?"

"Yes, Master." Galen said, leading the way.

_In Orbit of Planet LJ-115_

The Republic battle force, led by the _Han Solo_, reverted to real space. Only one Cruiser remained of the enemy force, much of the force ground and space had been recalled by whoever were these people's superiors.

Within seconds the large Republic Battle Cruiser acquired the enemy vessel in orbit, along with its two escort _Indefatigable-_Class Gun ships, and the batteries on the transport vessels all swiveled to target the enemy ship.

The panicked vessel tried to scramble fighters.

The Republic formation beat them to it, as large, angry, red energy darts descended on the Cruiser.

They raced down the length of the ship, draining the weak shields of their enemy quickly. Then with the second salvo, explosions raced down the length, width, arched down the spine of the enemy vessel, blowing it into composite atoms in seconds.

Then small gun ships spilled forth from the bays of Battle Cruisers and the Transports. They lunged through the atmosphere with the side doors closed to prevent the occupants from roasting alive.

Five hundred and eighty three soldiers were in the craft. They were Omega, the elite special forces unit in all of the Republic, at that point in time, large numbers of troops, able to do anything was their credos.

There were also 3 pairs of Jedi along for the ride, with supporting medical personnel for both groups.

They cleared the upper atmosphere and fired their engines, adjusting their course and making a sweep down low over the rocky terrain.

Their target, the coliseum, what intelligence indicated was the enemy's command post. It was built into a small valley with mountains off in the distance.

Rolling and rocky terrain surrounded it, as the slope approaches to the main gates of the North and South ends was a dry and ancient riverbed. Rocks broke out here and there, the perfect place for defenses and pillboxes.

The group of gun ships did one pass over the coliseum to scout out the area, accelerating rapidly to shake off any possible defenses. The pilots were surprised when they were not fired upon. They swept over in the other direction, looking for a landing place.

They chose one half a klick from the coliseum.

But their threat alarms were chirping quietly, scanners in the distance were picking at them from a distance.

The enemy knew they were coming.

_On the Ground. _

Master Windsword and John got out of one of the small transports/ gun ships. Galen and Death joined him along with the Captain of the Omega contingent. He was hefting a heavy repeating blaster rifle, and was dressed in full combat armor, complete with advanced combat helmet.

"Sir, what do you want?" He asked the Jedi Master.

"Assemble your troops and your equipment, we march in fifteen minutes." Master Windsword ordered pointing.

The Captain nodded and went off to join his troops, as they assembled and retrieved their supplies. Various rifles, carbines, and assorted heavy weapons were their cash.

They marched over the rocky terrain to the coliseum, carefully, considering that there might be defenses lying in wait. The group was shocked to discover there were no defenses to the approaches, this made them more and more uneasy, as they entered the facility.

When they entered they fanned out into the rooms, the pillars, and the walkways over looking the large pit at the heart of the coliseum.

They set up their weapons and their positions and glared over the grounds, looking wearily for threats .

The group of Jedi were crouching in the archway representing the entrance to the grounds overlooking the same fields.

Windsword nodded as a small group of black clothed beings came out of a side entrance.

"Alright, Master Zaun, Padawan Death, we are going to go and meet them, see what they want. John, stay back, you are not good enough at combat yet to risk it."

John opened his mouth to protest, but closed it, setting his mouth in a rigid, but accepting, expression. He then nodded his acknowledgement curtly.

"Ready?" Windsword inquired to the group.

Galen and Death nodded grimly, getting of their crouched positions. The three of them proudly started walking towards the group at the other end of the grounds. They were on full alert, their eyes darting back and forth throughout the structures looking for any threat. Looking at the tall flat surface on top of them that resembled a runway from the air.

They could find none, stretching out with the Force they looked ahead, staring at their destination and taking in the three cloaked figures.

They met… finally.

"My name is Lord Reefu, Master and Lord of this planet." Their leader stated bombastically.

"Jedi Master Windsword." Windsword nodded at the group, a spark of annoyance radiating from him through the Force. "You are surrounded, we will allow you to surrender, drop your weapons, and explain your actions."

Reefu smiled dryly. "We will not do this."

"Then where are your forces?" Windsword asked cockily.

"Oh…around." Reefu waved around vaguely, a feral smile spreading itself across his face.

Galen Zaun suddenly picked up a spike of warning through the Force.

"Master!" He yelped as he flung himself at Windsword forcing the elder Jedi to the ground while a Blaster Bolt split the air just where the Master was standing.

Death brought his Lightsaber to hand and instantly bought it to life, the emerald blade springing forth from the hilt.

"Open fire, target, fourth pillar from the right!" The Omega Sniper Commander barked the order.

The Sniper nodded, acquired his target and fired, the blue energy dart pierced the heart of the enemy sniper, who fell from his perch to his death.

One of the cloaked figures on the left unsheathed a rod from her utility belt, flicking it on, a Lightsaber blade appeared, red in color.

Galen was shocked by the display but he quickly recovered, getting his own Lightsaber out and bringing the bronze blade to life. Still in a crouched position, he slashed twice, one through the midriff, and one off at the knees. He then plunged the blade through the figure's chest for good measure.

Master Windsword brought his weapon to hand as well, he brought the violet blade to life and positioned himself into a defensive posture.

One of the Omega teams opened fire, the multi barreled weapon spun to life, spewing rapid fire bolts of high intensity blue energy. Their target was the fleeing Lord Reefu, he was running away from the three advancing Jedi, their Lightsabers drawn. They quickly adjusted for their fire arc, and drilled the Lord in the chest with eight shots, burning a hole in his chest.

Personnel and Droids spilled from the edges of the Coliseum, looking to fight and kill the Jedi.

"All troops open fire, fire at will, prepare to advance." Came the voice of the Captain over the battle net.

Out of the shadows Republic special forces advanced, carrying their weapons and aiming down them. They picked likely targets first, then worked on flushing out any targets still in cover. They open fired as a group.

John was still off to one side, in the archway by some cover, gun emplacements were beginning to explode from the ground and attempted to target the Omega's, they answered with rockets.

John was mesmerized by the gorgeous and deadly display beginning to take shape in front of him. His father, his mentor, and his best friend was in the middle of a firestorm. Red laser bolts were lashing out at them blindingly from their right flank and their center.

But they were deflecting and intercepting them, picking them clean out of the air with furious but precise movements. John was amazed to see their muscles work, to see sweat break out on their brow, but for them to not lose concentration or break down from fatigue.

Death was the weak point, he was frustrated being on the defensive. But, John's Master was helping him, protecting him from some of the shots, and Death was also on the flank with the least amount of firepower.

Occasionally a shot would arch across the Coliseum, trying to answer, or silence, the furious firestorm that the Omega's were putting up in defense of the Jedi.

John heard boot steps furiously pound the pavement behind him as three fully armored Omega troopers came running out of the archway, they found cover and then fired their weapons, trying to pick off any targets, firing a blinding display of energy.

The firestorm against the Jedi Knights in the center was slowly starting to dissipate.

Death heard a whir of engines above him from the runways, the fighters must have been hidden. He growled and then summoned a Force Wave, he leapt to the top and discovered a group of startled techs and pilots. Their trap now discovered. Panicked, they attempted to complete their scramble.

Death reached out with his hand and pulled it back, using the Force making two of the fighters collide with one another, exploding on contact and causing bodies to fly all over the place, skidding along the surface, and spilling over the sides.

One of the pilots got a small pistol out of a hip pouch and fired. Death spun around bringing his Lightsaber up in a defensive posture, sweeping it and picking off the shots, trying to do damage with the Force still, but the remaining fighters used the distraction to launch. In retaliation Death used the Force to destroy the fighter whose pilot had dared challenge him, destroying the fighter's electronics package.

Two fighters managed to speed off the platform and dove on the Omega position, one of which was instantly picked off by an anti air rocket, and the other one then immediately commenced evasive maneuvers.

John noticed another gun emplacement pop out of the ground, with a gunner already on it, it swiveled upwards and tried to pick off Death.

"Death!" John yelped. But he knew that Death could not hear him.

He instantly summoned his Lightsaber to hand and activated the blue beam, he had no time to consider the first of this action. He charged at the position, they looked at him surprised, their mouth agape.

The two enemies then picked up the secondary weapon and moved to acquire him, gunning him down. John instinctively leapt through the air, spinning mid air, and bringing the blade down. He cleaved the gunner in two, and then plunged it through the other's neck awkwardly, only catching a piece of it.

He then got into the gunners seat and took the controls, bringing the weapon around at a group of droids, he fired, the middle of the group exploded. He swung around to a second group, this time of living creatures, and fired again. The result same as before, except for the sound of yells drifting over to him.

He looked up in sudden shock as he heard the screaming of an ion engine attracted his notice. The fighter that had launched was diving right at him, he had no idea why he was still alive. A rocket flung itself at the fighter, catching it on one of the wings, ripping it apart and sending it into an uncontrolled tumble.

John had mere seconds to vacate the position, he did, springing into a leap from the control couch, and flinging himself flailing around, sparing his body just inches beyond being flayed alive.

His ears were ringing, his vision was bleary. He stared at where his father and his Master were still fighting, focusing on his father, he could just barely make Galen out through his impaired vision. The Lightsaber that he had borrowed earlier now misplaced.

Galen's arms were pumping through the air, as they were going on the offensive. They were now in range of a large group of Droids and Sentients. Slashing and cutting and lunging through the formation.

John doubled over and vomited, the full impact of what he had just done slamming into his weakened psyche full blast. His first blood, and he was only seventeen years of age. He could be sure that it would not be his last.

Master Windsword watched as the formation before him broke. He let his guard down as he stared puzzled at the fleeing group of metal and flesh. But he had no time to wonder about it as his com link in his ear chirped.

"Master Windsword, our sensors indicate that the enemy forces are pulling back from the entire battlefield." The Captain of the _Han Solo_ said over the battle net.

"Pursue them." Master Windsword ordered. "Send the gun ships and a platoon of Omega's to capture them, destroy the Droids."

"Yes sir." The Captain obeyed, relaying the orders.

"Well…its over." Galen sighed wearily.

"Yes it is, but we still have to wait for the rest of our force to get here tomorrow, and then we march on the capitol." Master Windsword shook his head, but spoke with determination.

"Well, let's do this then." Death grinned feral. Looking like he had just taken a stroll through the park.


	22. Meetings

_Planet LJ-115- Just outside the Coliseum. _

Galen Zaun was just standing there, staring into the gloom and the low hanging fog that was hugging the ground. He was scowling through the fog, hoping that he could detect threats before they materialized.

But he was also preoccupied, today was his first blood, the first blood that he had experienced in a long long time.

The first major battle that the Jedi had experienced in over a generation.

But his thoughts, as they always seemed to, drifted back to his beloved Arkadi. He missed her, he felt a big gaping hole in his chest where she once was. Her absence remained a bitter pill for him to swallow.

But he could not deal with it, he had a mission to complete and a battle to win.

John Zaun was sitting on the ground and the dirt, staring down with unseeing eyes.

He was preoccupied. The events of the day were passing back through his eyes in some freakish holo vid. He was only a seventeen year old boy! And he had already killed, already maimed, and was participating in a campaign.

He longed to be back in school with his friends, the girl with the black hair, Devylyn.

Not in the dirt and the muck eating three day old rations.

But he had ruined that part of his life, he sighed glumly, shifting around trying to get comfortable.

He failed to get comfortable sitting where he was. It was rocky and he did not have a cot or a mat or anything, the limited number of supplies they had brought with them made it so there were not enough real camping supplies at that point.

He observed a figure sitting down right next to him, he paid it no attention as he continued to sit there in his brooding.

"Hello." She greeted merrily.

He finally looked up startled to see a young woman before him, a few years younger than he was. "Hey." He glumly replied, not feeling like being bothered by anyone.

"Whatcha doing?" She asked him.

"Sitting here." John replied darkly.

"I can see that." She informed him, her eyes widening sarcastically.

He sighed suddenly, looked at her and gave her a crooked, apologetic, smile. "I am sorry."

"Hey no problem." She smiled back at him.

He took the first moment to really look at her, she was short, and stocky, though obviously still had a lot of growth to go through. She had typical tan colored Jedi robes, she had light red hair that was cut short, curved around her ears. If John had to estimate he would have guessed her age to be around thirteen or fourteen. Her features were quite plain, but showed potential for being real striking in a couple of years.

He decided to introduce himself. "John Zaun."

She smiled extending her hand to his "Sora, Sora Shan."

John perked up instantly, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. "Shan? As in the great Jedi's Bastilla and Satelle?"

"The same." She nodded at him, blushing.

"Wow." He grinned excitedly. "I learned all about your ancestors in history class."

"Class?" Sora asked, she looked at him sideways and her eyes sparkled intelligently.

"Yeah, at the school I went to." John explained.

"School? You went to school?" Sora asked confused.

"Yes." John responded just as confused.

"Well then what are you doing as a Jedi?" Sora asked.

"People can be Jedi later in life." John scowled defiantly.

"I know its just…odd." Sora smiled apologetically back at him, she shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, well my father is a great Jedi Master. Master Galen Zaun." John explained further.

"Ah yes, he I have heard of," Sora nodded, " a great Jedi Sentinel."

"One of the best." John agreed, pleased that his father was known for something.

"My master is around here somewhere." Sora looked around over her shoulder seeing if she could make out her Master. "She is a Master Healer. The greatest healer of all of the Order, and a great Master. Nice and kind, I am truly lucky to be her padawan."

"I see. My Master is Master Windsword." John waved his hands around a bit.

"Really? One of the Council? But they never take on Padawan's that late!" Sora's eyes widened perceptibly. "You must be a special case."

"Yeah, I suppose I am." John dodged, remembering just why he was a Jedi Padawan.

He and Sora continued to talk for much of the rest of the night, he had found a good friend.

_Jedi Command Post_

Galen, Death and Master Windsword were standing around a holomap of the area, planning out their next move when the rest of the strike force got there, any second from now.

They were studying the map intently, looking at the overlays of the latest intelligence reports and sensor scans. The enemy force was deployed around the city, their forces were heavy and were in pockets all throughout the approaches to the city.

There was nothing they could do until the main combat teams got there.

The three of them swiveled their heads around as they heard a knocking by the tent's door.

Standing in the doorway was a Republic trooper, he was in full body armor, but he had his helmet in one of his hands. He blushed under the scrutiny of the four Jedi and then cleared his throat. "Colonel Lesak, I am the assault commander of the Division that is now landing." He extended his hand as he came into the room.

"Master Windsword." The elder Jedi looked the Colonel down curiously.

"Galen Zaun." The Jedi Master's bristled as he smiled in friendly greeting.

"Death." Death muttered dismissively as he went back to study the map table.

"So, what's the situation?" The Colonel asked after an uncomfortable pause.

"Don't you know?" Death looked surprised.

"I did not have time to look over the real time updates on the way down." The Colonel sheepishly responded.

Master Windsword nodded as he glanced over the table, "well the main enemy forces have moved and concentrated themselves around the Capitol. Given that they are in constant movement it makes bombardment or close air support difficult. Since we cannot confirm their numbers we do not know their exact strength. But it seems they are at least one division."

"I see, we are outnumbered." The Colonel nonchalantly summarized.

"Yes but we have several things going for us. Gun ships, heavy close support speeders, heavy troops, and we do know where they are." Death pointed at the assets that they had on the map.

"Yes but it will still be a tough fight." The Colonel grimly studied the map.

"I say we hit them fast, hard, and right now before they are ready." Death decisively thumped the table.

"We are not ready yet." The Omega Captain chimed in as he entered the room.

"The Captain is right," Galen said grimly.

"Well then I will get back to my troops, make sure they are all-wait whats that?" The Colonel asked to the assembled crowd.

The rest of the people peeled their ears, the Jedi reaching out through the Force.

There was a commotion going on outside, the Jedi could feel a large group of people…civilians...gathering outside. Agitated, concerned, but yet determined.

"What the?" Galen asked as Master Windsword opened the flap going out into the grounds outside of the tent.

"What's going on here Sergeant?" Master Windsword demanded of one of the Sergeants standing guard.

"I don't know sir." The Helmet's com system distorted the voice that was speaking.

"I see." Master Windsword said, he marched over to the group.

The group was an assorted smattering of locals, most of them non human. They did not have any weapons beyond pitchforks, but they clearly were not looking for a fight.

They were agitated though, their minds were on fire and they were looking for…answers. And they sought them at the Republic that had sworn to protect them, and the guardians of the Republic, the Jedi Knights.

Master Windsword and the others approached the group cautiously, not knowing what they were getting themselves into.

The group were looking at the Jedi too, studying them and observing them, to determine if they were friends, foes, or if they were the detached gods of rumor and legend. The group eyed the entire Republic force, feeling solemn.

"I am the leader of the group, the town mayor." A fat fellow came forward and spoke, inclining his head in greeting.

"Master Windsword, I am the Jedi in charge of this operation." The Jedi Master introduced himself, also inclining his head in return. "What do you want?"

"We want to express our views on the situation." The Mayor explained.

"Ah." Galen uttered for the group.

"We feel uncomfortable about our current situation." The Mayor frowned.

"You were just invaded, you should be uncomfortable." Death chuckled, sounding slightly amused.

"Yes and the Republic was supposed to protect us from that." A woman in the back shouted, sounding cross. "And we have waited for two weeks."

"We are…angry." The Mayor explained uncomfortably.

"I can see that." Master Windsword addressed the group. "The Republic can only do so much, because of the economy, budgetary constraints, and fleet size, we cannot effectively defend our entire territory."

The group scoffed in return. "We are an important planet in the Republic, you promised our defense, you should have enough."

"The right of protection for most of the planets and local defense is purely the responsibility of local defense forces." Death reminded them of Republic policy in the matter.

"Then what good are you?" one of the group yelled angrily.

"Over all protection, from enemies of the Republic. Settling contract disputes and protection of the Jedi Knights and outside parties. Economic facilitation, and again protection, free trade with the rest of the Republic except for illegal substances." Windsword recited by memory.

"Well then the Republic has failed in its responsibility." The same member scoffed at official doctrine.

"Maybe so, but the Republic cannot be responsible for local problems. We cannot subsidize your Government's responsibilities." Death barked harshly, advancing aggressively on the group, as the group backed up into a defensive posture.

"Hold on let's not get out of control here." The Mayor held up his arms to stall the developing tide of anger and resentment. "We thank the Republic for its contribution and honoring its treaty requirements, but we just wonder who is responsible for the attack, for driving us out of our homes and abolishing our locally elected Governments."

Windsword sighed, almost finding the insults to be better than this. "We do not know, we will be looking into it over the next several months and make sure that justice is done."

"We understand." The Mayor bowed before the group began to disperse, some of them chatting with the troops.

"By the Force I hate politics." Death muttered darkly.

"Yes but we have to put up with it." Galen teased, slapping Death on the shoulder.

Death nodded, glaring off into the distance on the battlefield to be.


	23. A Taste of Things to Come

_LJ-115_

John clutched the rail above him, clinging to it desperately as the deck below him heaved and pivoted. He was in a Republic gun ship over the fields outside the planet's Capitol. They were engaged with the enemy attempting to recapture the City that housed most of the planet's Government, and neutralize the threat.

He gazed out of the open door wearily, over the battlefield as he watched the vehicles and speeders descend on their targets. Watching the infantry gather in their groups and then move out to objectives over a small ridge.

He observed as seven heavy assault speeders soared over the plains. Their mission was to provide close air support to the infantry and the ground forces. He watched as two of them broke off from the group and dove for the deck. They opened fire. From this angle John could not make out the laser beams, he saw the mini explosions decimating the interior lines of the enemy infantry, which appeared to John as small specks. Then hundreds of small energy dots shot forth from the swivel mounts on the swooped wings of the speeder, picking off any of the survivors.

John looked down towards the ground at a humming noise. A column of seven Republic hover tanks appeared in an impression, a tightly compacted path leading up to the rest of the plains.

When the first tank crested the hill its turret swiveled around and its gun shrieked to life. Firing Red bolts of high energy off into the distance.

The gun ship then turned slightly, swooping over the battlefield, pointing the door at the main battle. Red and blue laser shots crisscrossed in the air at a rapid rate against red, green, yellow, and orange shots, mowing the other force down with deadly ferocity.

The ship rocked suddenly causing John to grasp onto the rail with renewed vigor as he could swear his feet left the deck and nearly spilled dangerously over the side.

"Hang on!" The pilot said from the cockpit as he adjusted the course radically, along with the two gun ships that were also in formation.

"You alright?" Galen asked his son, worry etched on his face.

"I am fine father." John smiled uneasily, Galen shot his son a bemused look.

The gun ship settled down as they were getting close to their landing point. The three gun ships noisily roared over head, attracted the notice of all those below.

One of the gun ships exploded in a fireball, the shockwave slammed into John's gun ship as it rocked violently, John felt he might vomit again, thankfully he skipped the three day old rations this morning, which made him extremely hungry.

Once again the gun ship went through a series of maneuvers to try and shake off lock, just as the ship on the right exploded.

"That's not good." Master Windsword commented needlessly.

"We had to expect some casualties on this mission." Death grimly reminded.

"I know." Windsword snapped.

"Five minutes to the landing zone." The chief of the ship shouted in warning, over the noise of the engines, the group of soldiers and Jedi began to check their equipment.

In a slight outcropping a group of enemy soldiers crawled on their bellies sneaking to the edge. As they looked out over the jutting rim and they saw the gun ship in the distance hover slowly to its destination. They were away from the battle, their target would not suspect a thing. They held their weapons to their bodies as they began to assemble the anti air missiles.

The leader nodded, satisfied that they were ready, then mouthed his instructions. "Target that Republic craft over there. Wait for my signal, three rockets to over come their shields."

His men nodded.

The gun ship that John and the others were in lowered altitude quickly, they strafed a position. The gun ship was armed with four multi barreled repeating blasters. The weapons could fire thousands of high yield shots a minute wreaking complete and total devastation on any target that it lit upon. They had rockets for heavier targets as well.

They slid over an enemy infantry formation, all four of them opened fire at the same time. Two of them were mounted in ball turrets on the sides of the ships, and the other two were mounted in complicated seat like contraptions on either side of the troop bay. Within seconds the enemy platoon was decimated, every target either dead or wounded.

But this brought them in the range of the rocket team, who watched helplessly as their comrades fell. But they would be avenged.

Their commander nodded and the three rocket men all depressed their activation buttons, sending three rockets on their way to the target.

Something caught in John's periphery, and he swiveled his head around to gaze at the three blinding points of light closing the distance rapidly approaching them.

"Incoming!" He yelped panicked.

All the crew in the ship came out of their bored stupor and looked around, the guy manning the starboard side cannon swiveled his weapon around and opened fire, but the rocket was faster than he was. He adjusted and the bolts of energy slammed into the casing of one of the rockets, going straight through, and then ripping the rocket to shreds.

He tried to adjust onto the next two incomings, but it was already far too late.

They slammed into the Republic gun ship seconds apart from one another, the weak deflector shield held against the first one, but the second one following so closely behind the first collapsed the shield. The explosion continued right on through the engine casing, destroying both engines.

The gun ship plummeted from the sky. Rolling over. The gunner on the port side was able to separate himself from the falling box like vehicle, bailing out.

The vessel crashed, knocking the crew around, but they got out quickly, one of them pulling out the wounded starboard side gunner as he left. They all knew they were in a precarious position.

The rest of the squad on the hill popped up on the edge and aimed down on the group intending to massacre them, what they got in return dismayed them.

The Jedi reacted to the threat instantly. Bronze, Green, Purple and Blue beams of light sprang to life instantly. Their four owners held their weapons in defensive postures as the enemy opened fire, hoping to overwhelm the group of Jedi.

That did not work. The Jedi all stepped up, in a single moment, even John Zaun, as they all deflected the shots and moved in. The strongest defender, Galen, advanced and took the brunt of the assault.

John was shocked at just how well he was doing. His arms were pumping furiously in parries and twists, pushing and shoving off all the bolts of light that came his way. In a dizzying display, hardly realizing at what he was doing, making out the bolts just as his Lightsaber came in to deflect them away from his body. It was probably a good thing that he was not taking too much pressure.

One of the Republic troopers peeked his head around one of the Jedi's legs and opened fire. He used his heavy weapon and mowed the group down, as his comrades joined in, pouring fire on the enemy position, causing them to spill off the outcropping.

The small force regrouped, and headed out towards one of their bases.

John wiped the heavy sweat off of his brow, with his Lightsaber hand, without turning it off. He flinched back and his hand swung around violently as the shaft of energy nearly blinded him. Blushing under the accusing gaze of his father and his mentor, he snapped the blade off.

Then he ran off to join the rest of the force.

_Republic Supply and Command Base_

The Jedi and the Republic troopers all came around a bend in the road. They had been traveling through nearly an hour behind their own lines trying to get to the front.

They had made it to their rally point, which was under severe attack.

All around them bolts of energy blazed in every direction.

Four Lightsabers hummed to life and the clicking sounds of rifles coming to shoulders acquiring targets made themselves heard as the newly arrived group prepared to deal with the threat.

John looked out over the plains and the dirt. The old military base, used by the locals before it was gutted by the enemy, was built directly into the side of a mountain. Huge Metal columns denoted the entrance to the facility. It was used for training and to have upkeep with supplies.

John looked at the few bolts of energy that were being flung at them. They were under a probing attack, the enemy was just testing their defenses before hitting them hard. In the distance John could faintly make out shapes of assault drones making their way into attack positions, preparing to strike.

John's eyes widened as a surge of red energy flew at him, he ducked just as it was going to hit him. The beam scorched his cheek as the heat raked on through him just as he flung himself into the dirt and the dust.

He got up on the knees and touched his cheek, it stung slightly. John looked around as Master Windsword swept his Lightsaber in wide arcs, picking the shots out of the air and deflecting some of them back towards the shooters.

John got up and picked up his own Lightsaber. The firestorm was increasing as it looked as though the enemy was starting their main thrusts.

Startled cries could be heard from the Sergeants who transferred them into harsh orders as the Troopers got ready to hold the line no matter the cost. If they were defeated here the entire flank could be turned.

John rushed forward swinging and twirling his Lightsaber around, spinning it in front of him picking out an ever increasing volume of shots that were breaching the perimeter, and hitting the make shift tents that were set up by the defenders.

His legs pumped as he ran diagonally through the area, but not so fast as to over run his protection from the Lightsaber. He was just a bit scared as the energy hummed over his head.

He swung his Lightsaber down hard, hacking at a passing bolt accompanied with a yell batting it away.

He paused for a second, looking around at where he had run.

He was in the center of the storm, and he had to react quickly to all incoming.

A veritable firestorm was unfolding before him. A blinding array of crisscrossing darts appeared in his line of sight, as the enemy attacked from multiple sides, firing wildly as they pressed their advantage. The bolts picking up an extreme amount of dirt, made it difficult for him to see as they whizzed around him.

A single Republic Trooper was manning a heavy repeating blaster gun turret. Blast shields tried to give him some protection.

John felt terror radiating off the Trooper through the Force as he desperately tried to hold the breach. The gun was positively leaping in his hand as he fired and fired and fired. Spraying a torrent of blue energy at the enemy as a swarm of shots tried to silence him.

John followed the gunner's line of sight at and saw men falling down, screaming, hearing the sounds of exploding and sparking droids.

John swept his Lightsaber up down and then up in the diagonal swatting two green globes of energy out of the sky.

Finally the gunner fell down dead in the dirt, two holes burned into his chest, his helmet blown aside to reveal a face that was not much older than John himself.

John paused and looked at the handsome, now lifeless features of the man, a coldness shook him as he shivered.

A yell of triumph went up amongst the enemy formation as they charged. John knew that someone had to get over there, and he was the closest to the target. He clenched his humming saber in his hand, squared his shoulders, and lowered his body, he let the Force flow threw him. Unevenly because he was not quite good at this yet.

He jolted, and he ran, his legs pumping again. He looked to his right at the constantly advancing enemy, swinging his saber around wildly an in a blue blur as he picked off shot after shot after shot from the air.

But it was too much for him. He yelped as he fell in the dirt, tripping over the uneven ground. He held his hands over his head in protection as a full squad pinned him down.

Bolts whizzed and zipped by his head, landing and burying itself in the dirt all around him, even scorching his clothes.

He heard a noise in front of him that made him peek out of his cover.

Someone had used the distraction to man the weapon. And it shrieked to life. He fired short controlled bursts at the enemy, shooting them down. The symbol of Omega emblazoned across his chest.

The shocked and pained screams of the enemy split the air over the din of the repeating blaster, as the rest of the troopers doubled their own efforts.

A sense of serene calm radiated over the new gunner, a sense of determination that came from years of experience and he knew that he was the only person to do this.

John was in awe of the spectacle before him. As the Republic Commando broke the backs of the enemy attack, as they fled the area, leaving their dead, wounded, and droids behind.

John shut his Lightsaber down and carefully placed it back on his belt. He looked around and then finally rejoined the other three of them, they were making their way over to the command bunker.

They entered it and John could not see a thing as the dimly lit interior stood in contrast to the blazing hot sun outside.

"Ah Master Windsword." They were greeted friendly by an unseen voice.

"Major." Windsword nodded in response. "Status?"

The Major stroked the stubble on his chin as he considered his answer. "Well we are advancing." He sighed. "We are facing stiff and heavy resistance all along the lines, seems we are facing a force much larger than originally estimated. Our main force in the center is at a stand still, but the Omega's and heavy support troops on the flanks are making quick progress and ensuring that we are not flanked by the enemy."

"I see, where is the heaviest concentration?" Master Windsword asked.

"Sector three, where our spear point currently is, the Tank Company ran into some heavy reinforcements going to break our advance but they were stopped cold. We still have some transport to deploy you and your men to that sector if you want."

"That will be necessary, thanks Major." Windsword nodded running out.

"You are welcome Master Jedi," the Major responded to Windsword's retreating form.

John sighed wearily, heaving his shoulders before going to join the Master. He was so weary and tired of this. His first taste of combat, of probably many more.

_The Front Lines_

The hover command carrier was floating over the even plains straight for battle.

The wind whipped through John's hair as they were maneuvering at 20 Kilometers an hour. The main gunner was staring down his sights nervously waiting to make an engagement.

John watched as the two sides moved towards each other. The Republic forces moved slow and considering, stopping to fire with their weapons. The enemy in a swarm, charged at them with a yell and artificially generated noises, only stopping to fire as they were in point blank range, or firing on the move.

John watched through squinted eyes as the crisscrossing energy flew between the two forces that were almost at point blank range. He squinted across the horizon as he saw other formations making their way to their positions. He patted his weapon, secure in the knowledge that with it he had a good chance of making it out alive.

"Hey, kid, its going to be OK." His father gave him a noogie.

John smiled back. "Thanks."

"OUT!" A yell from the driver interrupted them in their moment of father and son.

John sighed again as the sixty Omega, Republic, and four Jedi spilled over the side. He misjudged the fall as he hit the ground hard, causing his knees to buckle, he expertly rolled with the shock, using knowledge that he should not have had, relying on the Force or his built in instinct.

Once he made his way to his feet he turned on the blue rod from his Lightsaber and held in a defensive position, sparks and explosions were happening all around him. A trooper next to him took two hits in the chest, sparking, he sputtered and then fell to the ground dead.

John held his Lightsaber close to his body, only worrying about shots that were coming after him. Swinging in short precise chops, and juking and maneuvering on the ball of his feet, he weaved his way through the combat zone. He deflected one shot right back at the droid who had fired it.

He looked around for a moment as the action against him stopped. The gunner was firing furiously into the packed force charging against it, they were spilling and yelping as they hit the ground from being caught in the shots.

Troopers were covering themselves and sneaking out from behind fire to find targets to shoot, as they were being encircled.

And in the distance Master Windsword was leading a small group of soldiers into battle, pointing out targets with his Lightsaber and deflecting shots against himself.

A sense of dread filled the pit of John's stomach, and it was instantly justified. Two green shots flung into the chest of his Master, he hung there suspended for a second before falling into the dirt.

John cried out unintelligibly as he charged at the fallen form. He slashed his way through two drones leaving their sparking and smoking forms behind. He dodged and ducked between a swarm of bolts that tried to decapitate him.

He finally made it, turning off his Lightsaber and discarding it at his side, falling in the dirt next to the fallen Master of the Jedi.

"Master?" He gasped.

"John." The Master gurgled back at this Padawan. Then he winced as pain wracked his body. "I am sorry, you have made me proud. May the Force be with You. My young Padawan."

A distant expression crossed over his Master's face, as he stared at the sky with lifeless eyes.

John had to stifle a sob, only succeeding in stopping half of it. Despite the little time they had spent with one another John had come to respect and admire the strength, wisdom, and training of the greatest of Jedi. He did not know what to do, he felt loss. This was his first personal loss, he wondered if this is how his father had felt.

A whizzing bolt burned itself into the ground next to him, making a squirting sound as it impacted with the dirt.

A burning fire raced through his soul. He snapped, rage and pain boiled up in him, and then turned into a torrent. They could not have even given him one second to mourn his loss!

He used the Force to pick up his fallen Lightsaber and turned it on. He picked two bolts out of the air and sent them hurling back at the soliders who fired them, one fell. He then picked up the other one with his hands and pulled back, he used the Force causing the poor man to hurl through the air, and into his waiting blade.

A noise attracted his notice as he saw that a group of enemies were charging at him. He smiled confidently, cockily, more targets.

He charged at them in return, swinging his Saber radically, slicing it through the air. He could feel the Force racing through him, a feeling that he had never felt before. He was on fire, he was using his full energies.

He met with the first group, and with a flurry of slices, dices, cuts, and hacks they were left in the dirt in a blur.

He was running now on pure instinct.

And with sheer instinct he reacted to the enemies around him. He could only just register what he was doing as he slashed and hacked up the opposition. Deflecting all unseen shots as they made their way at him, back at unseen targets who yelped.

Faster and faster, harder and harder, lungs pumping and the energy of the Force flowing through him, he charged through the enemy lines.

All his enemies were brought down into the dust without him even seeing it, and despite him being driven by emotion, there was none at the slaughter he was visiting upon them.

He had no idea how long he had traveled, no idea how much ground he had covered, and no idea how much damage he had caused. All he knew was that he was a whirlwind of activity, destroying anything that opposed him.

But he stopped, a flash of blinding white light engulfed him. He felt the Force surround him as he was showered with the light.

He was then flying, the area looked familiar, the area just seemed to be where he was at, on LJ-15. But it was different. There was a bridge off in the distance, and two figures were crouching down low.

The ground rushed up to meet him, and then suddenly he found himself as one of the figures. Himself.

He looked down at the figure he was cradling in his arms. John recognized him, he seemed so familiar, but older than what he remembered.

"Father?" John asked quizzically.

Pain shot his way through his body as he stared up at his son. "John…do not…." He coughed. "Do not react with rage, with pain, with passion, no matter what. You are such a good boy…you have so much potential. But do not fight with rage. Only calmness and serenity, that is the key, unlock the Force and no opponent can stand before you." His eyes glazed over, he looked so content and happy, as he passed beyond.

"FATHER!" John screamed. Shocked, devastated, he had no idea where he was or how he got there.

He was blinded again by the light, and found himself standing there, frozen, back on the field in LJ-115. His mouth was agape, his eyes felt moist, he was looking around devastated, lost, having no idea how he got here. Holding his Lighsaber out to one side, limply, not even defending himself from any potential attack.

"READY!" Someone screamed off to his left. His head shot around to look at the disturbance, and 12 enemy soldiers bought their weapons to their shoulders and aimed down them at him.

He was stunned, but found himself unable to move, his mind still processing what was unfolding before him.

He was going to die.

But he heard another yell break through the air behind him and again turned.

And there he was, John's father.

"Attack, attack, defensive fire, covering fire, protect him!" Galen ordered as a full platoon of troopers came up out of the sun behind him.

Galen was contrasted perfectly against the back drop of the sun shining behind him, the rays of light arching over his shoulders. He was leaping wildly with excitement and desperation, waving his bronze Lightsaber in a circle over his head, rallying the troops and pointing out the target.

The group before John was shocked, confused, and very unmilitary. Finally some of them leveled their weapons at the new threat, while others stayed on John.

Galen stopped arching his weapon over his head and pointed it straight out at the enemy, bellowing "Fire!"

The Republic weapons came to life picking off the enemy forces.

Galen placed his Lightsaber by his shoulder and held it by his ear. "Charge." He growled.

The troops charged and covered the distance quickly, firing their weapons at any survivors at point blank range.

Sounds of victory broke out all around him. He looked around wildly as he saw Republic troopers dragging around surrendering enemies. Holding them at gun point.

Chants of victory broke out all over the field of battle.

He felt a tapping on his shoulder and shot around, bringing his Saber up to defend himself.

It was his father. He turned off his Lightsaber and placed it on his belt.

"Son, you ok?"

John smiled wanly. "No, but I will be."

"Come here." Galen ordered gently, John did and father and son embraced. John inclined his head burying it in the strong chest of his father as the battle thrashed itself out.

"Jedi, we have victory." A voice reminded them, hardly noticing in its glee that the battle was over.

"We know." Galen sighed, glad that the first major battle of their time was over… but getting the eerie feeling that it was not to be their last.


	24. Gatherings

_The Chancellery Office._

Chancellor Loraan was sitting behind his desk. Tired, eyes swollen and blood shot, droopy and tired bags hanging from them, a bottle of the best Corellian brandy was next to him on the desk.

A report was before him. A dreadful report, the after action report of the battle of LJ-115.

His first blood, his only blood his worse blood. And he had an eerie feeling that this might have been the beginning of something. He just made the worse order of his career. Maybe the worse order he would ever give in his entire career.

He sighed to himself, resigning himself to what he had to do, he had to read this report. Taking a deep breath he picked it up and started to skim it.

_Republic After Action Report 17776, Report on Ground and Naval Battle on Planet LJ-115. _

_The Naval battle lasted mere seconds their forces seemed to be no match for Republic Heavy Turbolaser batteries. However, one Cruiser analog ship was the opposition force against a fully armed Republic Solo Class Battle cruiser and a force of Gunships and Republic transports. No known capability of any heavier ships, if any exist. _

_Coliseum battle: Their force in and around the Coliseum area was no match for Omega special forces, and they were dispatched quickly. _

_The Battle of the Fields: The enemy forces were heavier and more concentrated than initial intelligence reports estimated. The main enemy force consisted of at least one division of Droids and one battalion of regular forces. Against one Division of Regulars, One Company of heavy troops, a Battalion of Omega, Assault speeders, gun ships, and other heavy equipment. Faced stiff and heavy resistance, enemy technology seems to be on par with current Republic capabilities, enemy training however, is not. _

_Final Assessment: Basically we got lucky. If the enemy forces were competent, and had heavier forces to match our air power and heavy tanks, casualties would have been proportionally higher. _

_Casualty report: _

_852 dead_

_4,232 wounded_

_0 captured. _

_73 vehicles _

_2 Assault Speeders. _

_Enemy: _

_7,324 Dead_

_4,242 wounded and captured. _

_18,323 Droids destroyed. _

_0 Captured. _

_0 vehicles destroyed. _

Lorran finally got to the end of the report. He had to stifle a small hiccup as he had consumed too much to drink.

He considered the report before him. It was only just the beginning. Upon reflection he knew that this was just the beginning and that there was more to do.

Someone else was responsible, unless this was just a lone warlord that decided to get uppity. But if that was not the case he had to be at least allied with someone, or had a supply base, or was working with a power structure.

But regardless he had to find out the truth of the matter he had to find the answers.

To that effect he got out a note from his desk along with a pen and began to write on it.

_Executive Order. _

_Office of Chancellery to RIO (Republic Intelligence Office) You are ordered to deploy all resources, including asking the Jedi for help, to determine the nature of the continuing to the threat to the Republic, or if there is one, in relation to the assault on Planet LJ-115. If there is one you are to determine the nature of the threat, their base(s) or their leadership. _

He looked it over and nodded satisfied. If there is one he would neutralize it and nip it in the bud before it got out of control. Or at the very least he would broker a peace agreement and come to an understanding.

Satisfied that his course of action was right he called in his aide and had him give the message to the communications center.

_The Jedi Temple. _

It had been two weeks since the battle and they were still talking about it, discussing it and considering the proper actions.

John Zaun has just gotten out of another meeting between the Council and many prominent masters, he decided to tag along with his father and with Death because he had nothing else to do.

He was staring out the window, his face on his arms that were folded on the ledge as he gazed out at the great city, and the traffic traveling across the sky of the Republic Capitol.

He was in limbo, his status and his future was uncertain. He was master less, he had no training to do, and he had nothing else to do. Just sit here and wait for someone else to confirm his status and the next course of his life. He was frustrated at having his fate up to the decisions of others.

A lot had happened to him in the last month, his entire life had changed. He knew he would do it eventually, but he was not expecting it to be so soon or so radical. And then when it seemed that he had gotten a firm footing, and his feet were on a solid road, it had collapsed, and he was whirling in a sea of change.

"Hey John." A female voice yipped behind him.

He turned around curiously, the voice sounded familiar, he smiled friendly when he saw who it was. "Hey Sora."

She skipped on over to him and joined him at the window. "So…what's up?"

"Nothing much, just sitting here, wallowing in pity because my master died." He frowned.

"Oh, yeah I heard about that, my condolences." She looked at him frowning, sadly.

"Yeah, such is life I suppose. Still sucks, and it happened in a battle, which also does not seem to be a good thing." John mouthed.

"Yeah I know, I was in a field hospital towards the front lines, assisted my master, and learned from her as she healed the wounds of the troopers. Most of them consisted of burns and bruises from shrapnel and things landing into them." John looked at her sympathetically. But she continued. "Where do you think this is going to end?"

John sighed. "I do not know Sora, I just do not know. But this does not feel like an isolated incident, this feels like there is more to come. But that is unfortunate. I do not like what battle does to me, sure it gets the blood and the Force flowing, and it is exciting. But then there is the realization of what you have done, of the life you have ended. It just is not an easy feeling"

"Yeah, but then we should take the moments that we have and enjoy this before the storm really hits." Sora reminded him.

He smiled grimly. "Yeah, I know. We need to take the moments that we can to stay sane. I have a feeling that it is going to get bad."

"Yeah." She sighed, her seemingly natural enthusiasm and energy drained.

"But cheer up." He smiled cheerily. "No matter what happens we still have each other and a united front amongst the Jedi."

"Yeah." A smile spread on her face as a thought occurred to her. "Which reminds me, one of the things that I wanted to talk to you about. Here is my my personal com and ID, just in case you ever want to talk or have something to talk about." She handed him a data sheet.

He took it, looked it over, and smiled to himself. "Thanks."

She bowed to him before skipping off, having to go look for her master.

In another corner of the Jedi temple Amann and his master were talking about the same events.

"I wish we were there." Amann informed her looking down on her spread out before him.

"Yeah." She sighed.

"What, you don't sound convinced?" He asked accusingly.

"I do not know. It's just that I feel a darkness coming." She sighed.

"Good then more action." He looked out over the temple grounds determined.

She sighed again. "Look there is a lot of rumors flying around. The journalists, reporters, correspondence, sources, and commentators have finally got word of the battle and are spreading it all throughout the Republic. People are concerned and worried. There is a tenseness in the air."

"And how do you know this?" He arched his eyebrow at her curiously.

"Oh I have been about, going through the Republic and the markets around here. People are uneasy, they are worried. A change is in the air, knowledge of an uncertain future. People are nervous about the economy and now news of a major battle against an unknown adversary. That should go over well." She explained.

"Yeah but we have the Jedi to protect us." Amann reminded her proudly.

"People do not understand us and do not really know, or trust us for that matter. We are their distant guardians but that is all. People need more." She groaned, "It's the military who is the main protectors here."

"Yeah well they are busy." Amann defended his position bitterly.

He retorted listlessly "I know, first taste of war and the people are uncertain." She tried one last time.

Now he sighed. "I know, but we just need knowledge and to dispel the rumors."

"And all that will take is time." She smiled wanly.


	25. The Trial of Death

_Jedi Temple_

Galen Zaun was marching down the halls of the temple, eyes down cast, thinking of his proposal that he was about to make. He had talked with his son a lot over the last couple of months since the battle, and knew that John was depressed, lost, feeling anxious to get on with his life.

But the Order was preoccupied with what they saw as a growing crisis. They were busy worrying about that and not assigning Knights to any new Padawans, or conducting Knighting ceremonies for that matter.

He had spent a lot of time here and was anxious, anxious to get on the road again, to have missions again, maybe get back to Corellia or Tatooine for that matter. It had been awhile.

But there was two last pieces of business to attend to.

He had called a meeting of the Jedi Council for his purposes two hours ago. But the Jedi Masters that made up the council, despite them having nothing to do, felt that the Republic might spin off into the abyss if they were not watching intelligence reports to act instantly to a crisis. The loss of Master Windsword had shaken the Council to the core, and many of them were looking for something akin to Jedi retribution. As complicated a subject as any in the Jedi order.

But they finally granted him their council, and he was on the way to meet his Padawan and then go down.

Death was leaning against a pillar and turned to meet Galen as the latter rounded the corner. "Master." Death bowed low.

"Death." Galen smiled at his Padawan in greeting, inclining his head.

"I just heard that the Council has called the two of us to a council meeting. Have any idea what it is about?" Death inquired of his master, genuinely curious.

Galen smirked, and then nodded. "Actually it was I who requested that the Jedi Council meet with us."

Death fell in with his Master as Galen continued to walk. "But why Master?" He asked.

Galen paused for a second and then looked at his Padawan curiously, a cloud of doubt passing over his heart and his mind, making him wonder at his current course of action. "Patience might be the key to this day, my young Padawan." Galen continued on his way. He could feel his flustered Padawan follow him.

They finally got to the doors outside the Council chambers, and found John sitting on the floor, legs crossed as he was reading a historical datapad.

"Ah good John." Galen greeted his son.

John snapped out of his reverie startled. "Father?" He was puzzled to see his father here.

"I am glad that you are here, this concerns you as well." Galen explained cryptically.

"What does?" John asked, the sense of puzzlement growing.

"You'll see." Galen said grinning, taking delight making the two of them wait.

They entered the Council chambers and the Council gazed back at them.

They proceeded through the center and waited.

"Master Zaun, requested our presence and council, you have?" The Grand Master asked first, breaking the silence.

"Yes, I want to request the Council's permission to finish my sons training." Galen requested, bowing low, a slight spark of apprehension fluttering through his soul.

"You already have a padawan under your tutelage." One of the Masters dismissed nasally.

"That is true but Death is ready for the trials, having proved himself in battle and proving himself to be a great candidate for Knighthood. There is very little I can do to further his training." Galen gazed sideways at his Padawan, seeing his reactions. Death shifted his feet trying to hide his excitement.

"Make this request, lightly do you?" The Grand Master inquired, a low grumble swept across the Council Chambers, agreeing with the Grand Master.

"No, I do not." Galen focused his full attention on the Grand Master, narrowing his eyes. "But he is ready, he has experienced the taste of battle. He has fought, showing great skill and courage, he survived the Dark Planet showing more of his Courage in facing the Dark Side of the Force." He said the last pointedly.

"Hmmm… take this request lightly we do not. Of the greatest importance, a new Knight is. Grant you, I will, passing the trial of Skill he has, but not the trial of Courage. Padawan Death." The Grand Master ordered.

"Yes?" Death stepped forward.

"You agree, do you, that ready you are for the trials?"

Death glanced at Galen apprehensively. "Yes, I think I am."

"More to it, than thinking, there is." The Grand Master teased, his eyes softening. Then he turned back to Galen. "Separate issues, they are, Knighting the Young Death and making John your Padawan, grant the former we do, consider the latter, the Council will. We will prepare the Rooms of Knighting and of the Trials. We will summon you when we are ready."

The Council began filing out of the room. Galen, Death, and John all bowed low at the council leaving, and then they too left the Chambers through the door they had entered.

They exited into the adjacent corridor and all stood around in a semi circle.

"Thank you father." John started off bowing.

"Well we still have a long way to go before you are actually my padawan." Galen made sure his son understood.

"I know." John meekly responded.

"Well the first thing we need to do is to get you a proper Lightsaber, even if you do not become my Padawan the Jedi that is your master will be expecting you to have one." Galen mused.

"I understand father, I will go and study the texts." John nodded his ascent.

Galen was about to open his mouth for idle chit chat but he felt a summons through the Force, he looked around and they all nodded at one another, all having felt it. Galen made his way down to the Trial room, leading the way.

_Jedi Temple-The Trial Room. _

The Masters were now sitting in the 'observation booth' over looking the simple room. They had finished their explanation of what Death was to face. He was to face the trails of Flesh, of Courage, and of the Spirit. If he passed he would become a Knight, if he failed it would either be back to training or he would be banished from the order, or reassigned in it.

The room was simple, tan in color, with no windows and only one exit, it led to another self contained room in the back. The Jedi were not big proponents of the new Reality Chambers, and did not like the kind of technologies. Instead they relied on Force illusions, and ghosts, and the personally tailored feelings of the Padawan in question.

Death nodded determined, it was all on his good time, and on his schedule, nothing more and nothing less.

Death took a deep breath, feeling apprehensive for the first time, not knowing what he was going to face. He squared his shoulders and stepped over the threshold and into the room.

He was plunged into a whirlwind of sound, of noise, and of rushing air. The room swirled around him as if caught in a tempest. It was rearranging itself and organizing itself, he was in complete darkness and could not make out the change. The energy in the room positively crackled in the air around him.

Finally it stopped, the room calmed, and the rushing of air silenced. He was instantly bathed in light and had to squint until he got used to the sudden change of lighting.

Upon accumulating himself to the light he gazed at the room and made out a small golden goblet, at an impossibly far distance given the size of the room.

He saw the goblet and attempted to go pick it up, he made one step in its direction and then collapsed. His body was wracked with pain, he yelped out in agony and clutched the sides of his ribs. He felt like he was on fire and being ripped apart limb for limb.

He clenched down and got up, summoning all of his energies as he made his legs work.

He tried to summon the Force, but the pain that was spreading throughout his limbs made that difficult.

He took another tortured step, and then another, and then another. In short steps, barely moving an inch with each of them, grimacing, and his body quaked as he moved. He bit down on his lip so much that he drew blood.

He collapsed on the ground again and tasted dirt.

For the first time since the pain started he looked around the room, the room seemed to be on fire, yellow currents were swarming around him.

His body spasmed again and again, as the currents struck him.

He felt like he was dying, and wondered if he could.

NO! He would not allow it. He was not going to die in the stinking trial and the dark and the fire, he would overcome!

He reached out with his hand and summoned a wave of Force energy to himself. The Force flowed through him, rage and frustration at his current situation fueled him as he made one last effort to move.

His own internal fire flowed through his veins and his body, as he purged the outside fire pressing down on it, smothering it, not neutralizing it entirely but making it bearable. He got up on his knees, then his legs, and then started walking. Again at a slow pace but infinitely faster than how he was traveling before.

Finally, after much agony he made it to the goblet. Smirking in triumph, his face black with dirt and soot, he reached for it.

He yelped shocked as his hands made contact with the goblet as it burned them with a terrible pain. He looked at them and they were black and decayed, he moaned and grunted.

He picked up the dropped goblet again and then hefted it into the sky, yelling out with triumph he arched it over his head.

And just as fast as it happened it stopped. A whoosh of air blackened out the area, before a pale glow surrounded the area. He made his way over to the door, all his wounds gone, as he opened the door and stepped through.

The process repeated. Again the air rushed, again the room rearranged itself, and then again he was standing there.

"You have got to be kidding me!" He yelped in frustration.

He was standing on the edge of a great precipice, moving down, to rocks below him. Sharp and raggedy.

Creatures flew through the air below him, to one perch then onto the next, not flying so much as gliding, leaping through the air and then repeating the process.

Death had always been afraid of heights from his earliest years.

His eyes flitted around the area, there were twigs, branches, and outcroppings all down the rock face. But no obvious signs of what he was here for.

He heard a slight wail below him and followed it to its source. He saw a bundle, obviously containing a baby, he could just barely make out the cute young face peaking through the blanket.

"You have got to be kidding ME!" He groaned.

He looked around panicked, trying to find a path, anyway to get to the bundle on the outcropping.

There was one path. But it was right in the cross fire of the two creatures. He could go down and attempt to kill them when they got close, imagining they had sharp teeth, but he knew that was not the point.

He sighed, taking off his robes stripping down to his form hugging under clothes.

He took a deep breath, spread out his arms, and then leapt.

The air rushed about him as he fell like a stone, but he had barely enough time to react, he reached out with the Force and scooped up the bundle as he went past.

He then used the Force to slow himself down. He landed on the path below, the beasts above him were glaring down at him. Not looking as if they were going to attack him.

He sighed and then marched up the path, the room disintegrated around him.

He made his way to the third room.

It repeated the same process as before.

He was standing in the middle of a dark room, barely any light to make out his surroundings. He felt a cold, oppressive, a fog was hanging low throughout the entire room.

There were two black squares in the room, he was standing on one and the other was on the other side of the room.

He felt cold, and he got his Lighsaber and turned it on. The emerald blade was pale, distorted, barely looking like the rich and vibrant green that it was normally.

He began to walk around the room cautiously, looking for any threats.

He stopped and spun around as a figure appeared in the room.

Still dark, still obscured, his features were hidden by a hood.

Death held his Saber out at the figure, trying to illuminate him, but on the figure came.

"Identify yourself!" Death yelled.

The figure stopped, Death could feel it smirk, could feel the malice and pure evil radiating off the figure in currents. It removed it's hood.

Death was puzzled, he was shocked, and he lowered his saber slightly as he had brought it up to a more defensive posture.

It was him. Or a mirror image of himself. Older, thicker hair, he was pale and death like. But it was him.

"Well well well, my son, look at what you have gotten yourself into?" The figure mocked, looking him over once.

"What?" Death asked stunned.

"Being trained by a Jedi, being trained by the man who killed me." The figure sneered.

"I beg your pardon?" Death asked, his sense of unease, and anger was gathering.

"Galen. He lied to you." The figure explained simply.

"What? NO!" Death raged, he slashed at the figure intending to cleave it in two. But a red beam of light exploded from the figure, seemingly from its hand.

"Now don't you know, little Jedi, that anger and hate will destroy you?" The apparition laughed.

Death growled and lunged. He twisted and slashed with a fury of blows against his opponent.

His opponent stepped forth and blocked all the attacks, and then slammed Death in the gut launching him through the air, and he rolled on the ground painfully.

Death charged again but was met with similar force, and found himself on his ass again.

Death calmed himself, obviously hate was not working, obviously aggression was not working.

He fired off a brief bit of blows and twists, precisely, calmly, with great consideration, and he was finally able to slash the spirit from end to end.

The room instantly dissolved and he went through the door at the other end.

Galen was on the outside of the door, beginning to worry about his Padawan, he was in there for a while and he was over due.

Finally the door squeaked open and Death made his way through. He looked flustered and just a bit swollen, his Lightsaber was on the utility belt.

Death looked tired and weary. More weary than anytime Galen had ever seen him.

Galen moved up to speak to him. "What happened in there?" Galen asked, concerned.

Death met his masters gaze, coming out of his reverie. "Nothing, nothing master. Just the trials." Death evenly replied.

Before Galen could press the issue the Grand Master came out of the room behind him.

"Young Death, kneel." The Grand Master commanded drawing, and then activating, his Lightsaber.

Death knelt.

"Padawan Death, I hereby promote you to Jedi Death," The Grand Master brought his Saber down on either of Death's shoulders, searing the clothing slightly. "Knight of the Republic."

That was all there was to it, Death was now the newest Knight of the Jedi Order.


	26. John Zaun, Padawan of Galen

_Jedi Temple_

John Zaun was awake, face up, lying on his bed in his small room in the Jedi temple. He was musing over the events of the last couple of weeks. Being trained by his father was…eerie…intimate.

But yet John found it to be an interesting experience in the end. His father was a great Jedi Master, should have been on the Council. He was Galen's fourth Padawan, all three of his predecessors went onto become great Jedi Knights in their own right, or their star was rising.

John's Force sense and his ability to use the blade had leapt in proficiency. He was a Guardian, his father was a Sentinel. But being a Sentinel Galen was able to train him to use the blade.

His swordplay had become precise, accurate, deadly, instead of flailing around through the battlefield. He had also learned to meditate.

But again he was alert, deep in thought, trying to digest another busy day. His life had gotten so busy ever since his incident, but he was itching to get on the road, to get to adventure and service, and to get away from the drab, dull Jedi temple that he found himself in.

He made an effort to fall back asleep finally managing to do so.

He woke up what seemed like a couple of minutes later, he bolted up in bed and threw his sheets out of the way, he dressed quickly removing his sleeping gown and then putting on his work robes.

He raced out the door and made his way to where his father was, one of the great training rooms at the heart of the facility.

He ran into the door and bowed to his father, who smiled at his exuberance.

"Death." John greeted inclining his head.

"John Zaun." Galen informally bowed, not using John's official title.

"Well shall we get started?" Galen clapped his hands together and rubbed them together in excitement.

"Sure!" John yipped grinning.

"Well then." Galen gestured to the center of the room, Death moved back out of the way. Death had taken on the position of John's unofficial 'Assistant Master'.

"Now," Galen brought the meeting to order. "Form III Soresu requires extreme calm and patience. I notice, my son, that you tend to follow your friend's example and fly off the hilt when frustrated."

Death grinned wolfishly off to the side, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Galen.

Galen smiled to himself in response, before arching an eyebrow and continuing with the description. "Which is fine, it is perfectly fine. But you have to make the choice. What will you be? Who will you be? And how will you come out in your Lightsaber skills? Will you choose the aggressive form V? Or Form III, or what will you choose? A combination? You must make that choice if you hope to survive. You must commit to a path."

John nodded, clipped in response, "I understand."

"Good, remember patience will be the key to success." Galen shot Death a brief glance.

John's hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end as he remembered the vision that he had during the battle of the fields.

"Well you suggested that I become and was ready to be a Jedi Knight, a great Knight of the Republic." Death piped in, a wry look on his face.

"Oh, I know Death, but I," Galen patted his chest and then bowed slightly. "am a great and elder Jedi Master, and a friend. Capable of giving great advice to another friend."

John snorted in amusement of the banter between the two of them. Two great Jedi Knights, one of them a great Master, one of the greatest Sentinels in the order. Another one a rising star.

"And besides," Death continued trying to become serious. "It is more the patience of the hunter."

"Exactly." Galen quipped. "Believe me I of all people should know this, but it does not take away that you should look before you leap." Galen winked, grinning.

John knew that he had a choice to make, a choice between the two of them, between two different philosophies and people. He had the best of both worlds, of the aggression and impatience of youth of a fiery character, and the old wisdom of an elder, experienced in life.

It was his choice to make, to learn from the lessons from both of them and forge his own character. Forge his own lessons, to stand on the shoulders of these two giants and seize his own destiny.

A couple of hours had passed and he returned to his room, collapsing in the chair feeling tired and drained. Today was _another_ day of tough physical training. Galen was an obsessive stickler on this point, learning to use one's body without the help of the Force. This puzzled John, not the physical part, he saw the wisdom in being in shape to help people, but how his father kept on coming to that point hammering it in mercilessly. John wondered what event in his father's life had helped lead to that rigid philosophy. But every time he pressed his father on that issue his father refused to elaborate to the point of obstinance, especially in the presence of Death, then he would just change the subject.

But, wondering about such deep philosophy was tiring work in his current shape, he thought as he smiled.

He got out the remote and turned on the holo screen, it appeared out of his desk and turned on. He flipped through the feeds, but nothing seemed to be on. He frowned to himself, before punching in Cath Hound News.

He listened to it for a second, it was one of the opinion shows that was interesting for an occasional watching. They were still talking about the Battle of LJ-115. Despite it being months in the past, and the economy was a popular subject.

He got out his pad and a digital pen, preferring to write personal notes out.

It was to Sora. She and her Master was at Ord Mantell, one of the local institutes of learning, a place for healers and doctors. Ord Mantell in the wake of the Vong War had turned into a place of learning about the war, a shrine of the wars and a peek into the past. But that also meant they opened up a hospital, to learn about the bio weapons that the Vong had used and to learn about the helpful techniques that came out of the war. It was a popular Jedi pilgrimage because of the history and what people could learn at the site.

He began to write on the pad. _Dear Sora, it's been awhile I know. I have been busy training with my father in the arts of being a Jedi, how are you? How does this letter find you? I heard you were on the Seminar on Ord Mantell, learning about the Vong healing techniques. I cannot imagine doing that, and I hope to visit that planet one day, so much History! I will probably continue to be busy but the next time you are on Coruscant perhaps we can meet? Probably going to be for a brief time. _

_Your humble friend_

_John._

He read it over and made the appropriate changes to it, satisfied he sent it off to her com that he had bookmarked.

He placed the pad over on the bedside table and stretched out in the chair. He felt a pain in his backside as he sat on his Lightsaber attached to his utility belt, moaning he got up and removed it.

He admired the craftsmanship of his weapon, a perfect replica of the Lightsaber of his hero. He admired his hero, Obi-Wan Kenobi as he was a Jedi Knight, and not necessarily when he became a Master. His Lightsaber was a replica of Obi-Kenobi's, and chose to mimic, blade shape size and color.

He hefted the weapon before putting it expertly on the nightstand. He then plopped down on the chair and continued to watch the news.

He was just getting comfortable, leaning back in the chair, his hands placed solidly behind him. He heard a banging on the door interrupting him, he moaned grumpily.

"John!" His father called through the door, "get ready we need to go!"

"I will be there in just a minute!" John replied back, placing his utility belt around his waist before putting on his Jedi Robes.

He opened the door. "What is it?" He asked, trying to keep his voice neutral and even.

Galen gestured for him to follow, and he did so, a sense of annoyance spreading through him.

"Republic Intelligence believes they have intercepted a communication and think they know where the attack on LJ-115 was launched from." Galen explained turning to his son.

"And they want our help?" John asked arching an eyebrow.

Galen nodded. "Indeed, the Chancellor and the Jedi have both requested that we be in attendance, and we should help. The Jedi have put together a task force including you, me, Death, and two other Jedi."

"I see, so where are we going?" John asked, speeding up to match the pace of his father.

"We are heading to the Fondor docks, a Republic Battle Cruiser is waiting for us." Galen finished.

"I see." John mused.

They entered the Jedi Temple's hangar bay, a shuttle was sitting at the end of the room. The two of them already made their way over to it. Death was already there, as were the two other Jedi.

A look of recognition passed over the Padawan of the pair, John nodded friendly, the Padawan nodded back, curtly, trying not to draw attention to himself.

The small group got on the shuttle and rocketed towards their destination.

_Fondor- Dock facility 3-4-2- RWS Obi-Wan Kenobi. _

The shuttle dropped out of hyperspace nearly an hour and a half later, they settled into a docking pattern and shot for the warship that was their destination.

It was the RWS _Obi Wan Kenobi_, like her sister ship the _Han Solo_, she was a Solo Class Battle Cruiser, heavily armed with defensive firepower, 40 single mount turbo lasers, eight torpedo launchers.

As the shuttle got closer John watched out of the front window as he observed a whirlwind of activity going around the ship. Fighters, shuttles, corvettes, and docking tenders attended to the ship and prepared it for combat.

Work parties crawled around the ship as they were combing the hull for anything that might compromise the ship, and worked on the guns on the external systems.

Their shuttle found an avenue between all the work parties and docked with the Republic Vessel.

Galen was the first to get out, followed by Death, then the female Jedi, then Amann, and finally John got out.

They were greeted by a constant whir of noise all around and over the hangar bay. Wires, hoses, conduits and work tools were strewn all across the bay, as work teams went hither and thither trying to work on the entire ship and get it fully operational.

"Jedi Master Zaun?" John heard a voice timidly behind him.

The group turned as one and looked at the inquisitive voice.

"Yes?" Galen inquired.

The aide blanched, clearing his throat he approached them gesturing out of the door by one of the exits. "The General is waiting for you inside the conference room."

"Well gang shall we?" Galen motioned to the group surrounding him.

The group nodded as one.

"Well then, lead on Lt." Galen bowed and gestured, following the Lt. as he began to leave the room.

John took a minute to look around the room before he too left, stepping over a power cord on his way out.


	27. Mission Briefing

_RWS Obi Wan Kenobi-War Room. _

"Greetings Commodore." The General greeted standing, smiling thinly.

Galen froze in his tracks. "Are you talking to me?" He inquired arching an eyebrow.

"You don't know?" Galen shook his head in the negative, the General clapped his hand. "Excellent," then he cleared his throat dramatically. "I mean the Chancellor, through executive order, has granted the promotion of you to Commodore. Death a Lt. Cmdr. Amann, John Zaun, and Jedi Knight Renate all Lts."

"I see." Galen was slightly perturbed. "What is the situation?"

The General smiled to himself demurely, his first genuine smile. "Right, down to business, I can respect that, I am General Maier by the way, you can be seated."

The small group of Knights sat down, a droid seemingly materialized out of the shadows and served the group drinks. Galen had some Corellian juice, John had water.

The lighting in the room darkened slightly before a primitive holo map appeared in the center of the table and revolved in front of their faces.

General Maier started to explain. "Right. These are the 'Gandrini ship yards. Over the past couple of months Republic Intelligence has been looking for the facility or planet that was used as a base for the attack on Planet LJ-115, we believe it to be this planet."

"What makes you say that?" Death asked skeptically.

Maier frowned annoyed, he huffed slightly before turning to Death. "We have intercepted loads of transmissions around the area which seems to give that as an indication. Now can we continue?" When Death was not going to say anything he did do just that. "Good. Now the planet is surrounded by defense platforms, dry docks, work facilities, and what we believe are Warships." As the General spoke yellow circles appeared indicating what he was saying.

Amann whistled in slight surprise.

"A Republic task force, led by the _Obi Wan Kenobi_, will strike this facility." Maier finished the briefing. "Questions?" he painfully flinched, obviously dreading this part of the briefing.

"Why are we not joined by the _RWS Han Solo_? She is a ship of force and is in the vicinity?" John beat everyone to it.

"Good question." Maier responded perturbed. "Well she is a ship of force and being one of the only ones in the vicinity she is still in orbit of Planet LJ-115. Making sure no one makes another move against them or Kandar." He smiled to himself. "Poor sobs are going to miss all the fun."

"What about our group, what will it consist of?" Galen asked next.

General Maier paused as if recalling by memory. "We are going to be a specialist group, nearly a full battle force but heavy on the Fighters. In addition to half the escort wing of the _Han Solo_ we will be having two Cruiser Carriers, four Transport Carriers, one additional Command ship, four ion defense frigates, and another fighter group attached to us. We have more fighters then we do pilots." Maier looked over the Jedi at mentioning the last part of that.

"Ah I see." John blurted, and then the room looked at him. John blushed, but his quick wit saved him. "What exactly will our role be in this mission?"

"Glad you asked that John." Maier glared darkly at the young Padawan. "Report to the training deck right now for your flight training."

"Wait, what?" John gasped taken aback.

"General I must protest, this is highly-" Galen started.

"Check with the Chancellor, he has put your Jedi group as part of my pilot wing, I will put them to good use and I suspect that they have not had military training to this point. Is that correct?" Maier snapped.

Galen just stared at the General darkly.

"I will take that as a no then." Maier smiled triumphantly. "Well if there are no more questions then I suggest we get to it, we do not have a lot of time to get your boys ready."

They were dismissed unceremoniously and practically shoved out into the hall, practically.

Amann's voice pierced through the tense atmosphere of the room like a knife shot out of a cannon. "This should be fun."

_Obi Wan Kenobi's training room 3-4-8. _

John was pacing outside the room, Death was serenely leaning against one wall. John continued, up one side, down the other, quickly, faster and faster, more and more antsy and nervous. Up and down up and down. Galen was not there. He was off with General Maier and the Captain of the ship, being among the most senior officers on board he was responsible for watching the training of the pilots.

John paused at the ridiculousness of the thought _Commodore Zaun?_ It sounded so blatantly absurd, but on the other hand it did have a nice ring to it, he wondered if he could make a life in the Military. Probably not, he was a Jedi after all.

He went back to pacing. Amann and his Master were in there for nearly twenty minutes, they had gone in first, just the two of them, apparently the room was big enough for only two pilots. He could occasionally hear a noise, a mechanic and computerized whir as if the computer were changing tapes.

Finally, the door whooshed open with a change of pressure.

"Wooo wee! That was fun!" Amann grinned excitedly, pumping his fists in the air and punching the door frame in celebration, he winced.

"Yes it was." His Master responded demurely, and then she winked at him, where she thought no one could see them, obviously still high on the adrenaline.

The third member of the group came out. "You two showed…exceptional aptitude for this…especially for Jedi." She was a female Twi'lek, a young and attractive one too with a certain, almost natural, swing in her hips. But the rest of her demeanor indicated that if anyone even tried it they would face a withering response.

She turned towards the other two Jedi who had taken position right next to one another. One of her head-tails twitched perceptibly. "OK then, you two are next, Death and John Zaun, this way please." She gestured for them to follow her.

John could not help but watch the slight swing of her hips, almost hypnotic, he then shook his head as if to clear it.

The room was Spartan, black, pitch black, two spot lights came out of the ceiling and bathed the cockpit and front end of two X-Wings built into the floor. The young Lt. picked up a Pad and started transcribing on it. John looked around. He could see absolutely nothing else, the rest of the room was a complete pitch black.

But he could feel his father's presence, Galen was worried, John tried to send a reassuring blast back through the Force. He tried to anyways.

Their training officer cleared her throat behind him. He turned, she was looking at him with her hands on her hips. "Well?"

John successfully fought the urge to blush, instead working his features up into a great big scowl. "Sorry." He took his position beside one of the cockpits, Death already was by the other one.

"Are either of you familiar with the X-Wing control mechanisms?" She asked them.

"Yep." Death nodded confidently.

John nodded. She made notes on her pad.

He remembered them from learning about the basics in school, as apart of his history and technical ed classes. A wave of memories, both pleasant and unpleasant rushed back to him, he blinked back, trying to focus on the task at hand. He climbed into the cockpit.

It closed around him and turned on. Instantly he was in a simulation of space, a whir of gray and yellow colors rushed at him. He wanted to yelp. He could make out another X-Wing off to his right charging into the fray, its Red bolts of angry energy slicing the enemy formation up.

Their enemies tried to get out of the way, a large group of them rushed his simulated fighter. He yelped, and then out of memory from the movies and rolled his stick, inverting his fighter on its belly and shooting through the enemy formation.

He spun his fighter around on its side and deployed his weapons to full attack mode, the wings forming their signature X. He pressed down on the trigger and fired, his storm just barely clipping the enemy.

Another fighter rushed at him, he had barely just enough time to watch it as its angry yellow shots pierced through the cockpit, and vaporizing him, whiting out the simulation.

He had to blink away his blurred vision as the cockpit opened and the simulation ended, two strong hands practically dragged him out of it.

"That was the worse simulation I have ever seen!" Maier raged, his features finally becoming visible as John's vision cleared. "And you," he pointed at Death, "what the hell were you doing leaving your wingman behind?"

Death scowled in return.

John's relief was short lived, as Maier doubled down the grip on John's robes. "But what was that? What a disgrace, I should have you thrown off the ship this minute you little-" Maier never finished the sentence as he pulled back on his hand and was getting ready to strike.

"General!" Galen's hand shot out and steadied the General's hand, grabbing him by the shoulder.

The General stopped, and then scowled. "Yes of course you are right. Lt. see to it." He nodded before straightening his uniform and storming out of the room.

Galen probed John through the Force, deeply, intimately, making sure that the damage was not permanent before running off in hot pursuit, his robes billowing behind him.

This left John and Death in the tender, if stunned, care of their training officer.

John robotically followed the orders, his mind was a whirlwind of images and memories, some of them not his own. But yet they were familiar.

Galen finally caught up with the General, just when Galen thought he had gotten away.

The General knew that he was there but refused to stop for no man.

Galen finally stopped, "General!" he bellowed.

Maier hissed dramatically before turning, approaching his unofficial 'commodore'.

"What was that about?" Galen forestalled any rebuke with his own question.

Maier turned nastily, moving back a few paces before facing the Jedi again.

"It is you, you and your damned order and your damned special connections. Acting Lts, Lt Cmdr for Death, and you a Commodore! I have had men on this ship and in my years of service that have worked a LIFETIME for opportunities such as these, going through months and years of training, only to be replaced by four sniveling brats and an old man! Just like that in a blink of an eye!"

"That may be your justification for the incident, and it may even be true, I can feel it is true on some level. But in the end it is just an excuse. Our 'commissions'," Galen spat disdainfully "have no real power, no real authority, and in a crisis we can be 'ordered' about by a simple Ensign. The only authority we might have is over enlisted personnel, and even that given our lack of experience is tenuous. And that does not explain why you are going after my son specifically." Galen glared.

"I am doing no such thing-" Maier tried to back off, tried to retreat, regroup.

"Don't give me that." Galen snapped, his tone gentle but the command in his words fierce. Then his eyes widened dramatically, in sudden realization. Then he narrowed his eyes studying the General intensely. "Don't tell me…you are Devylyn's father?"

The General stopped his pacing, he looked furious and surprised, but he suddenly smiled to himself. "How'd you know?"

"After the incident at the school I have gone through all the reports, all the files, and everything else. Trying to fill in the blanks and learn what happened, make sense of it all and fill in what my son did not tell me." Galen whispered, barely audible. "And I learned her last name, I thought we were done with this."

"I am sure." Maier hissed. "John Zaun." He mocked. "Perfect little John Zaun, the perfectly noble Jedi Knight that nobly rushed to the rescue of the damsel in distress…and beat a defenseless boy with a pipe within an inch of his life. That boy just happened to be her boyfriend. Never again."

Galen wanted to respond, but bit his tongue and held it back, being too bitter. Instead he sighed. "Look can we move on? Can we try and get to the mission at hand?"

"I can try." Galen began to let his defenses down, but Maier continued. "But you still have to resolve the issue that your group has been forced on me, without the slightest amount of military training when I have people on this ship who have had years of experience without reaching your lofty ranks. And, just when justice was about to be done. Just when John would have faced his punishment and the courts, your precious Jedi Council swooped in, and used their considerable power and saved little John." Maier spat.

Galen sighed. "Look it does not matter our personal feelings, we will have to work together."

"I agree." Maier nodded. "but," the warning alarms suddenly blared.

"Unauthorized access training bay 3-4-8." It came over the intercom.

"What the?" Galen asked the universe.

"I do not know." Maier said, stalking off. Galen went off in pursuit.

_Training Room_

John was strapped into the cockpit, the simulation was raging in full force around him as he attempted to pilot the ship through the storm. His eyes were narrowed, darting from controls, to readouts, to the simulation screen, and then back again. Always looking for enemy fighters, always trying to stay one step ahead of the enemy, he spun, manuevered, and launched away.

It was an odd twist of fate that the simulation did not allow John or any Jedi to use their natural abilities in the Force. The simulated fighters and surrounding starscape were not actually 'there'. They were figments of a computerized imagination, and thus provided nothing real to lock onto. Still if there was any other way for a Jedi to develop talents outside of the Force, then this was it. Not relying on the Force but on instinct, instrument, and the periphery, an important lesson in any situation.

And he was running, running, doggedly determined to make up for his sins, to make up for the torrent of images that poured out of the General's head when the two of them made contact. He set his mouth, he was going to atone for his sins, atone for the pain that he felt, and this was a way to do it.

He was playing an interesting game of cat and mouse with the simulated fighters. He was not able to shoot any of them down, but he was staying ahead of them, watching out as he rocketed just out of their reach.

He was constantly maneuvering to get a better angle, the simulated gravitic forces forcing him against the seat slightly as he turned to engage the enemy.

But it was too late, the cockpit shook from simulated hits, alarms blared as his entire status board flashed red warnings at him, he heard a simulated droid shriek in the background. He grunted as his compensators failed and the Gs hit him full force. Another hit finished him off.

The simulation ended, he looked around. He was greeted by mixed reactions. Death looked triumphant, Galen looked uneasy, and the General looked at him with an inquisitive mixture of curiosity and satisfaction.

John felt apprehensive, his eyes flicked back and forth between the three of them, worried at the rebuke he was going to get, and wondering who was going to give it to him.

Finally General Maier came forward. "Well after flying like that we just might make a pilot out of you yet." The General smiled, John smiled back uneasily hardly trusting the situation. "But do not try that again Lieutenant or you will be facing a severe reprimand." The General chastised harshly, but the tone of voice took much of the sting out of the rebuke.

John smiled uncertainly, but responded with a simple "yes sir."

"Good." The General turned to the Twi'lek training officer, "Lieutenant, double the training regiment."

She nodded in response.

"I think it's time that we put our differences behind us and get ready for war." The General barked sounding determined, heading out of the room and to his own command center, to make his own preparations for war.

Galen just sat there, looking at his son uneasily.


	28. Space Battle

_RWS Obi-Wan Kenobi- Gandrini Ship Yards. _

Galen Zaun was on the bridge staring out, scowling at the window as the bridge made the final preparations for battle. They were swooping down on the main battle station and the surrounding facilities that made up the dry docks and warships.

He felt helpless, he did not know what to do or what 'orders' to give. He just attended to his ship, continued to look out the window, and then back to the sensors.

"Captain, we have a squadron of enemy ships breaking for our formation." A tech manning one of the threat boards reported.

"Good, head towards them and prepare all weapons. Let's cut them off." The Captain of the ship, a Rodian, commanded. A feral smile now spread across his features, "Fire control relay targets to gunners."

The fire control officer's fingers raced across his console as he relayed the fire control orders to the gun crews. Then he nodded.

Galen arched an eyebrow at the display before him.

"Fighters incoming!" Another tech yelped, and then he calmed himself before continuing the report. "Two groups, coming from the ship yards and the fleet group moving towards us."

Galen sighed. "Here we go."

Maier gave the next set of commands in a gruff monotone. "Steady, steady people, remember your training. Communications tell the fleet to launch fighters, lets coordinate and pincer them."

The communication officer nodded laying in the commands on his board.

"Here we go." Galen whispered, audible enough to be heard by Maier.

Maier shot him a shushing look.

Consoles beeped, and crewmen relayed more orders throughout the ship as the two forces collided.

Red bolts of high intensity energy shot forth from the batteries all along the _Kenobi's _bow and portside. They streaked off rapidly into the cold depths of space, quickly disappearing in a blink of an eye at targets unseen.

The two forces were ninety kilometers distant, and closing. Galen stroked his beard in interested concentration as he watched the battle. The enemy returned fire with less precise accuracy, obviously stretching the range of their guns.

"Enemy fighters closing to fifty kilometers." The fighter tech alerted.

"Order our fighters to close on them, beat off the initial response and then make for the enemy capitol ships and defense platforms." General Maier commanded.

"All defensive batteries on standby to shoot down any leakers that the fighters miss." The Captain ordered from the textbook, balancing out Maier's tactics.

"Here we go." Galen uttered automatically.

_Red Squadron-Red eight._

John Zaun was in the shockingly quiet cockpit of his XT Class X-Wing. Only the hum of the powerful engines and the occasional twittering of the droid behind him to interrupt what would be serene boredom in normal circumstances was ruined by his tense mood.

He was edgy, nervous, worried, this was his first taste of this kind of battle, and he was not supposed to be a pilot. However, he was alert, and his Force sense was on maximum, that was one advantage, he could feel the enemies around him. But he could be felt as well.

"Hey John." Death's voice came over his headset, "don't worry I will watch your wing."

John smiled behind his helmet and was about to reply when he was interrupted.

"Stay off the line and cut the chatter!" Their CAG snapped. "Anyways, we just got our assignment from the Mothership, lock S-Spoils in attack position and roll in. Reds 1-4 on point, Reds 5-10 stay back a bit . We are going to be joined by Yellow and Blue Squadrons. Tallyho!"

John rolled his fighter on the side, and he raced into the fray with four other X-Wings in close formation with him forming an X of their own.

The forces met.

_RWS Obi-Wan Kenobi_

"Missile salvo barring 2-2-4." One of the techs reported.

"Fighter squadrons have met with enemy fighters." The flight control officer said in a monotone.

"All defensive batteries track incoming ordinance and destroy." The Captain Ordered looking up at the master board on the ceiling.

"Too late!" The same tech yelped panicked, clenching onto her console.

The floor shook as the missiles struck harmlessly on the _Kenobi's_ shields. Galen braced himself on the console in front of him before straightening back out.

"What is the status of the fighters?" Galen turned to the control pit.

The tech looked up startled at being asked a question, he then blushed and then ran over his boards. "Sir, the fighters have broken up the enemy assault with minimal casualties."

Maier forestalled the next question. "Relax Galen, I am sure your precious son is fine."

"I am sure he is." Galen responded bitterly.

"Well it looks like theory has won out this day." The Captain's smile twisted, shooting the two flag officers a sideways glance.

_Red 8_

John rolled his fighter on its side and dumped a full burst from his quad cannons right up the tail pipe of the fleeing fighter.

"Hey the Jedi got one!" Red 10 yipped excitedly over the net.

"Very well." Their Squadron leader/CAG sounded pleased. "It looks like our three squadron attack might have actually worked, enemy forces are splintered and trying to regroup. We are now in the fold gentle beings, let's give them all we have got. We have been given independent assignment from the flag, let's go for that Cruiser bearing on the nose." Red 2 reported.

The fighters all maneuvered to attack the target in question.

"Looks like Yellow nine has taken heavy damage and is heading back to the barn, Blue six is gone. Blue Squadron is heading for a Command Cruiser target, and Yellow is hanging back for the defense."

John mulled this over, but he did not have a lot of time to do so as his Commander came back over the net.

"Alright, tallyho! Reds 1-6 break in for attack, Reds 7-10 hang back and provide cover."

They were flying XT Class X-Wing Starfighters. Over 200 hundred years old they were used in the last major conflict and a majority of the pirate conflicts over the years. The Republic had tried to replace them nearly eighty years ago with the much cheaper, much lighter Starfighter known as the XU Class X-Wing. But they were not liked by the military or any private organizations for becoming a favorite with local planetary guards, they proved to be a design disaster nowhere close in capabilities to the older XTs. The Military made the compromise of giving a larger, longer nosed, version of the vintage XT Class Starfighter to carry twelve Torpedoes instead of the standard eight on the smaller older brethren.

Reds 1-4 were the latter class, the torpedo version. The Captain's plan would have been to dominate and overwhelm the shields of the target ship with as many as 16 torpedoes and then have the other two follow up with key Laser Cannon strikes and maybe more torps to destroy or disable.

The plan worked brilliantly, the four lead fighters streaked in and unleashed their thirteen proton torpedoes. Then the last two fighters unleashed a stream of laser darts and two torpedoes of their own at the crippled ship, one of them went up the tail pipe and blew it to shreds.

A small group of fighters maneuvered to jump the X-Wing Squadron that just destroyed the larger ship.

"John let's go get them." Death reported over the inter com. John nodded to himself.

They separated and rolled into battle, John lifted his nose at the climbing fighter now trying to escape the unexpected threat. He maneuvered behind the enemy fighter and squeezed the trigger. His cannons fired and vaporized the fighter, Death eliminated the other two. He now had two 'kills'.

"Hey John, looks like a gun boat is trying to get through our lines and make a run on our fleet, do you want to go get it?" Death asked.

"Sure." John returned evenly, knowing that he could not change the mind of the aggressive Jedi.

They lined up nearly wingtip to wingtip, their eight cannons all pointing in the same direction as they flew in formation.

The gun boat panicked, tried to maneuver out of the way and attempted evasive maneuvers and to use whatever countermeasures they had.

But they were ineffective against the two predators sneaking up on them. They had no small defenses to destroy the threat.

John and Death launched their torpedoes at once, the pink orbs streaked into the target and then exploded, one taking out the shields and then one mere seconds later ripping into the hull, breaking the ship apart.

Death then spun off to go after two more fighters trying to flee the area, leaving John all alone.

A fighter managed to get in behind the young Jedi, the droid shrieked as bolts of low intensity energy streaked passed his fighter, some of them hitting his stern and his engine compartment, his aft shields were over powered. He rolled his fighter away from the bandit on his tail.

"Death!" He yelped over the net.

"Coming." Death sounded mad, at what John could only guess, "Roll left, break hard break hard!"

John did as he was told, violently shoving the stick into his knee and his fighter snapped to the left, then he gently rolled it around again to the right, before diving through space, gaining separation.

The fighter was caught by a bolt causing it to spew sparks and spin out of control before consuming itself in its own fire, Death's fighter shot past.

"Thanks." John said chagrinned.

"You are welcome." Death replied sounding guilty.

"Having fun you two?" The voice of their Captain asked annoyed.

"Not really." John sighed.

"Alright Jedi, reform on my wing, all fighters join in standard formation. Let's go after the defense platforms, clear the way for the big boys, make our way for the command hub in the center." The CAG ordered, the squadron quickly obeyed.

A sense of dread shot its way through John's stomach, a worry in the Force. But he could not do anything about it, he was not in charge of the mission and there was nothing he could do about it, just follow orders.

_Obi-Wan Kenobi_.

"Sir, Red Squadron looks as though they are heading for the defensive platforms at the heart of the shipyards." One of the techs reported perplexed.

"What? Who gave that order?" The Captain asked walking down into the pit.

"No one sir." The tech sounded flustered at getting such close attention of the Captain.

"Well does not matter now, we may need them to do what they are doing to survive. Be aggressive, we need that." The General waved a hand forestalling any recall order.

Galen shot his counterpart a curious look, but did not say anything, he was not in charge.

_Red 8_

John spun his fighter ducking under a piece of debris that flew from a crippled defense platform.

The predators were in the hen house and they had made their first big mistake, they had already managed to cripple three of the main defense platforms, and were busy going deeper and deeper into the web. They had to duck under scaffolding of some of the repair and construction facilities, as they headed deeper and deeper.

But the sense of dread was still there.

Suddenly, John understood why. They were surrounded, all the defense platforms locked onto them.

"EVASIVE!" The CAG yelled over the intercom, finally panicking, the defense platforms fired as one.

John ducked and rolled under the extreme defensive fire that ripped the rest of the formation to shreds. Exploding Starfighters blanked out his vision as he had to clear it, he took two hits and his shields nearly failed. Death came out much better.

_Obi-Wan Kenobi_

"Sir most of Red Squadron was just eliminated, at least I have lost their transponder links." One of the techs reported, sounding glum at the news.

"Which fighters survived?" Galen asked, turning, trying to sound calm.

"Looks as though Red 7, and 8." The tech read from the screen.

"That is John and Death." Galen sighed to himself relieved.

"I am sure they will be fine." General Maier patted Galen on the shoulder sounding confident but depressed at the loss of the other eight fighters.

"Yes I am sure." Galen responded, turning to the General.

_Red 8_

"Death I am losing it!" John reported over his coms sounding panicked. "By the Force I hate flying."

"Steady." Death tried to stay confident.

John's fighter was losing power, the control stick was shaking all over the place as his fighter began to shake apart. He was losing it, his alarms were shrieking at him and the panels were lit a pale but insistent red.

A bolt shot forth from the pale, cold, dark depths of space and hit his fighter. His shields were down so it hit his fighter and sparked dramatically, his fighter shuddered and then rocked magnificently.

"John! You alright?" Death sounded worried.

"Yeah." John shakily replied. "For the moment, but my fighter is losing it, I have lost most of my power and one engine."

"Alright only one way to go." Death sounded grim and determined.

"The command center?" John sounded worried.

"Yeah." Death sighed.

"Alright lead the way." John gestured.

The two fighters rushed, shot, and spun through the web of lasers, Death was trying to protect John from the brunt of it.

They quickly approached the command center that did not have any defensive firepower of its own. Fighters were still spilling from it but ignoring them because their electronic brains knew that the defensive batteries would take care of them.

But they were not destroyed, and three of the fighters turned to meet the two X-Wings. Death launched all of his remaining torpedoes and then shot a stream of laser darts, the explosions combined and spread throughout space, destroying nine of the enemy fighters.

"Here we go John, you ready for this?" Death asked nervous.

"Yeah, as I will ever be." John responded.

The two fighters spun and went back through the magnetic field.

_Obi-Wan Kenobi_

"Commodore, General, we just lost contact with Reds 7 and 8!" One of the techs reported sounding worried.

"What?" Galen asked, spinning on the tech, "what happened?"

"At last report they were going into the command center." The tech sounded confused.

"The command center?" Now it was Galen's turn to sound worried.

_Red Eight_

John spun under the large glass control bay hanging from the ceiling of the spacious hangar. Defensive turrets meant for dealing with boarders shot at him, most of the shots hit but just harmlessly sparked all along the tough hull, causing damage.

John and Death then began to fire their quad cannons at scaffs, repair tenders, and any other fighter they could get their hands on.

Their bolts ripped into the tightly packed vessels on the hanger floor, ripping into the ships and causing a chain reaction of explosions as shrapnel and hot fuel spread all over the floor causing a massive fire to break out. The lights of the hanger flickered and went out.

They put the S-spoils back into their regular positions and then shot through a tight corridor at the end of the bay, leading to another one at the back, this one was still well lit.

"Hang on!" Death shouted over the coms.

The two of them pointed their nose for the deck slowed rapidly for the approach, their landing feet snapped out just in time, as they collided with the floor and slid on it for another twenty or so meters.

John snapped open his canopy and leapt out in a somersault, before his fighter even stopped, he turned his Lightsaber on in midair and then slashed his way through two droids, sliding on the floor.

Death simply leapt out of his fighter bringing his emerald blade to life, deflecting and slashing his way through his group of droids.

They slashed, hacked, cut, ripped, and deflected their way in a blur of energy from their bladed approach. They cut down any opposition before them with a whirlwind of strikes and counterstrikes, parries and blows.

The two of them met, the droids lay burnt and crippled on the floor of the hangar.

"Looks like we made it." John said.

"Yeah, we need to get to the Command Center, see if we cannot sabotage them, or something." Death nodded off to the hall way. "Ready for this?"

"Yeah, I am." John frowned for a second, "You feel that?"

Death spread out through the Force. "Yeah, Dark oppressive presence."

"Let's go meet it." John nodded confidently, Lightsaber at the ready but not activated.

Death nodded back. "Let's."


	29. Coming into His Own

_Obi-Wan Kenobi_

The bridge was a bustle of activity as they were still in the middle of combat. The ship shook and the lights flickered with each successive hit to the shields, the nervous crew glanced up, the officers and the Captain trying to keep them steady and the minds focused on their tasks.

"Captain," One of the techs reported overly calm, wearied from the constant stress over the last thirty five minutes. "I am detecting a Cruiser analog, they have made it through our picket screen, fighters are nowhere to be seen."

"Damn." General Maier sighed, glancing up at the master board.

The Captain descended into the pit and looked over the tech's shoulder. "What is the status of our shields?"

"Captain, shields are beginning to buckle slightly, our power reserves are straining under the enemy fire." The tech reported.

"Damn," The Captain thumped the desk, "shunt more power to the shields, do whatever it takes to keep them stable, gunners target the enemy vessel, stand by Missile strike, follow it up with Turbo Lasers."

The tech and other gunners nodded.

"Here we go." Maier said clenching the railing.

Galen shot him a look, "seriously?"

Maier shrugged, "why not?"

The Ship shook as angry red bolts of energy shot from the deep black darkness of space. The bridge crew could just barely make out the enemy Cruiser from where they were standing, as the enemy unleashed a full salvo at their ship. The shields flared to life briefly, an opaque blueness just visible for a second, as the impact point of the enemy shots flashed a near blinding yellow.

The Solo class Battle Cruiser returned the fire with instant vengeance. Eight orbs shot out of the Solo's bow and maneuvered to the enemy cruiser, they were trailing pale blue tails of energy, stretching nearly from the Solo to the enemy ship.

The ordinance slammed into the enemy vessel, making the shields flare to life, causing the ship to flash on their screens. Then the _Kenobi_'s own Turbo Lasers came to life and hit the enemy ship, depleting their almost stripped shields severely, before gutting the enemy ship from stem to stern.

_Main Command Center-Outer Hull_

On the outer hull two battered, and bruised, XT Class X-Wings put down, silently, activating maneuvering thrusters and their repulsorlifts landing lightly on the surface.

There they made hard seals with the outer hull and cut their way through, the two pilots slid down the breaching locks.

When they got down they unclipped their weapons from their belt, a Blue and a Yellow beam spread out from them.

"Ready for this Amann?"

Amann grinned. "Ready as I will ever be."

They fought their way to the command center, trying to get there.

_Main Command Center- Another Location_

So far John and Death met minimal resistance, and any they met they had cut through. They were out in the middle of the deck, aimlessly making their way to a linking corridor, a stairwell, an emergency access chamber, or a lift of some sort.

John was concerned by this, he was beginning to believe that too much of a good thing usually meant that something bad was about to happen. He was clenching his Lightsaber, and had a hand on his activation plate, waiting for the slightest sign. They came to another corner, he made sure that Death was still behind him, they nodded at each other. He cautiously peeked around the corner and a shot rang out, he flew back around just as the blaster bolt plowed into the bulkhead.

John nodded at Death again, he a acknowledged back. They both took a deep breath, and together turned on their Lightsabers, they hummed to life.

They both went around the corner at the same time, the two Lightsabers swimming into position to deflect the shots. John bought his up horizontal, and Death swung his from top to bottom. The two bolts deflected off the energy blades and flew right back at the enemy droids, who sparked and crumpled.

"Does that look like an elevator to you?" John gestured with his head to the doors at the end, holding his Lightsaber in a relaxed position.

Death nodded.

They both ran over to it, their Lightsabers humming in their hands, they got to the door and it whooshed open for them.

"Damn locked down." Death slammed his hand into the door in frustration.

"Easy we will just have to find another way up." John tried to calm his friend down.

"Yeah, I suppose you are right." Death nodded, and then hulked in the other direction.

John followed him, around yet another corner.

The next corridor was long and straight, continuing on into almost nothing, but at one end of the hallway there was a gathering of droids and enemy officers.

Death came around the corner as well and his eyes widened at the display, he nodded to John and they both began to stalk over to the enemy, Lightsabers secured to the belt.

"We will not tell you the codes to our Command Ship's shields." Amann's voice drifted out of the center of the group defiantly.

"Yeah, what he said." Renate repeated lamely, sounding weary.

John shot Death a quizzical look who just shrugged, they then continued on quickening their pace slightly.

"Well if you will not give me the codes then we will kill your precious master." One of the officers scoffed.

A feeling of apprehension pierced John's heart through the Force like a stun bolt, freezing him in place. He suddenly knew, knew that this was a dangerous situation, knew what was going to happen, knew that Amann did love his Master and the consequences of her death. He judged the distance and wondered if they could make a last lunge at it. Death tapped him on the shoulder and furiously shook his head in the negative. John nodded reluctantly.

The group in front of them suddenly parted and John witnessed Renate and Amann exchange a look.

John and Death again picked up their pace, just on the edge of making noise. They were rushing into it, Amann saw them and his eyes widened.

"Hey what the?" The lead officer caught on and spun around to the group.

John pounced the rest of the distance, his Lightsaber blazing to life, piercing the officer's stomach.

Death's green blade came to life as well as the blades of Amann and Renate. A clash of blades and blaster bolts buzzed through the air, along with screams and yells of shock and terror. One of them was decidedly female.

The dust was cleared and the casualties were tallied.

"Renate!" Amann screamed in grief.

She was on the floor, wincing, her hand covering her chest, a hole burned in her stomach.

"Let me see." Amann offered his hand and removed hers, there was another hole burned in her chest as well. Amann moaned.

She blinked at him. "Amann that you?"

"Yes, I am here." He said clenching her hand.

"Be strong, in the face of adversary, be patient, but most importantly…." Pain wracked through her body…"be good." Pain continued to arch through her body as she looked up at the sky, past them, past them all, with unseeing eyes. Amann closed them and tried to stifle a sob.

John came over to him, figuring it was better to have Amann on his mission, and get his mind off the grief, put him to practical use. He put his hand on Amann's shoulder. "Amann, come on Amann, we have to go. We need to go."

Amann shook his hand off. "Get off of me!" He raged, now holding his master.

John was now spiked with terror for someone he considered a friend. "Come on Amann, you cannot stay here we can get her later."

"No!" he raged.

"But-" He began.

"John, leave him, he will be ok, we have to go too." Death warned.

"Alright." John sighed, the two of them went back to looking for the elevator to take them to the nerve center.

_Obi-Wan Kenobi_

The _Kenobi_ was in the hen house. A broad side of Turbo Laser shots slammed into one of the ship yards ripping it apart, and then she launched a spread of torpedoes which destroyed four more defense platforms.

On the bridge Galen Zaun looked at the view port, his eyes glinting intelligently as he felt something. A sense of great sadness pierced his soul through the Force, he probed it. It was not John, or Death, but it did feel oddly familiar.

"Galen what's wrong?" The General turned to him.

Galen snapped out of it "Nothing". "Nothing at all," he repeated softer, knowing it was not true but not knowing the cause of it.

_Command Center- Main Center_

The two Jedi, John and Death, reached the top floor of the main base.

Death got out and led the way, his senses were on edge to ensure that they could not be seen by anyone or anything as they got out, he took the Lightsaber off his belt.

The pathway sloped upwards just a bit into the main command center for the entire ship yards. Death squared his shoulders as the two of them marched up the path.

They arrived in the spacious command center and looked around slightly, at all the controls and the wide windows that showed the battle raging outside the walls.

There were three figures cloaked in black, they all turned around as one at the presence of the two Jedis.

One of them was human, the other two were of an unknown alien.

"Death." The woman in the middle greeted.

Death cocked his head quizzically. "You know me?"

She grinned amused at the thought. "No, but I knew your father."

"My father?" Death asked.

"Easy Death, don't trust these people, I think she is the one that is running this operation." John warned.

Her grin only widened. "Ah yes and John Zaun, your reputation of that of your father precedes you."

John glared right back at her.

"Look I do not know what this is about," Death started, "but you are under arrest for threatening Republic planets and you will be taken to discuss your actions to the Supreme Chancellor."

She laughed heartily, her eyes sparkled in malicious mirth. "Do you now? Well before that the two of us have something to talk about, but I think we should do so in private."

"Careful Death…" John warned again moving forward.

The person in front of them used the Force to flick a control down, John yelped as the floor beneath him opened and he fell through.

"What was that?" Death snarled to the leader of the group, he brought his Lightsaber to hand and turned it on.

The two guards on the left and right also brought their sabers to hand, their crimson blades shining in the light.

"As you can see you are outnumbered." The woman cocked her eyebrow.

"Numbers matter not." Death defiantly barked.

"Please please." She held her hands out in a placating gesture, palms forward, "all we want to do is talk with you."

"About what?" Death spat back at her.

"About your father." She returned.

"What about him?" Death replied sarcastically.

"Did you know you have been lied to?" The leader asked.

"What?" Death's eyes widened.

"Galen Zaun, he lied to you. He was the one to kill Death, he was no friend of your father." She explained.

"And how do you know this?" Death simply asked.

"I have my sources." She returned.

"Well then I see we have reached an impasse." Death replied, he clutched his blade and charged.

_The Under Levels_

John Zaun crashed in the water, making splashes and waves, he rebounded to the top and gasped for breath, his robes threatening to pull him under again. He saw a ladder at the other end of the pool and began to swim for it.

But he was pulled under, something was grasping at him, grabbing at him, threatening to pull him under. He could feel a strange tug on his body, on his mind, and on his soul, the water around him bubbled and boiled as he tried to free himself from the tear.

A creature peeked it's head out at him, squawked fiercely before slipping back under the waves. It seemed to be a large head with green spike like protrusions on the sides of it.

John gasped and began swimming much faster, his legs pumped and kicked through the water at a fast pace.

He reached the ladder and tried to climb up, desperately towards the top to reach the hatch. Splashing noises happened behind him as the creatures reached for his legs. A telepathic probe breached his mind, massaging it, begging it to give into them.

He gasped and kicked out again trying to struggle. It was speaking in the voices of Devylyn and Sora, begging him to give into it, massaging his mind attempting to make it malleable to it's will. He was slipping, losing his grip on the railing and on reality.

But he shook his head and clamored on in desperation up. He kicked off again, as he stripped his wet robes down to his under clothes that were also dripping wet. This shook off some of the creatures as he scrambled the rest of the way up. Another creature leapt for him and he slashed his Lightsaber out, bringing it active as it was arching through the air. The tip connected with it's nose causing it to lose it's grip and fall to the water below.

He reached the hatch and waved his hand in front of it, causing it to open. He cautiously leapt through.

Startling a sentient and a couple of droids, he pumped his fists straight in the air, his Lightsaber shining and dripping as it made a crackling buzz. His clothing dripping water profusely his hair a shambled mess.

"Blast him!" The non commissioned officer yelled pointing while drawing his own pistol.

John charged, his Lightsaber flashed out in a twirl of energy deflecting all three bolts back at their owners.

He quickly whirled past and headed towards one of the elevators.

_Command Center_

Green and red shafts collided in mid air in a deadly symphony of color and sound. Death pivoted on one foot and spun on the other, being erratic and unpredictable, swinging with strength and catching each opponent off guard. He did not know how much longer he could keep it going.

"Why do you deny it, you know it to be true, you cannot have felt comfortable with what was going on. You should have known something was up, you are more powerful than any mere Jedi!" Their leader in her dark robes grunted as they clashed their blades together, her blond hair fluttering.

"Liar!" He raged pushing her off, only to be kneed in the gut, causing him to double over and then he was whacked with the hilt of a Lightsaber.

He collapsed to the decking and then rolled out from under the blow that was about to descend upon him.

He got up and charged again, snarling ferally.

_Just Outside Command Center_

John's lift stopped, rushed out, only to have his head nearly taken off by a barrage of blaster bolts. He grunted as he flattened himself against the bulkhead. He readied his Lightsaber and with one swift move he raged in a battle yell and charged forward. Hefting his Saber in a defense pattern, he held it straight out, and then slashed through the air. The corridor sparked around him as bolts skated in every direction.

He charged and was soon on top of the enemy.

_The Command Center_

Death and the leader, their blades now locked in a bitter embrace, looked at the door as the sparking and screams of shock penetrated it.

"You have got to be kidding me, I would have thought he would have succumbed by now!" She squeaked.

"Succumbed?" He asked her.

She swung her saber hilt up and swiftly bashed him on the head.

He fell to the ground hard and bounced away, rolling back to his feet. He was still defiant, as they came on.

They leveled a series of kicks, beats, and blows upon his body, striking him at a furious pace.

The door at the end of the compartment opened up, and his three assailants leapt back at the new threat.

John came through and attended to his friend. "You ok? You up for this?" John Zaun asked concerned, holding his Saber out in defense.

He nodded. "Yes, yes I am John," he got up and squared his shoulders, "well if we are going to do this, we might as well get this over with."

John nodded. "Let's."

The two of them swung into action, bringing their blades through, in a fury. Now there were two of them together, they really evened the odds out, and turned the tide. Their enemies proved to be no match for their furious strikes and blows and unrelenting attack.

It worked, they got through the defenses as Death cleaved one in two at the waist, and John impaled the other through the heart.

The two of them advanced on the last remaining master in the room, their leader. Upon approach their Lightsabers clashed together. She was in full defense as she leapt and spun and slashed her Lightsaber at them, bringing them around defiantly: Death and John pressed their advantage, wearing her down, and finally John pierced her through the chest.

Her eyes widened in pained shock as she pales and collapses on the decking.

"Death, you ok?" John now breathless, reached for the shoulder of his dear friend.

"Yeah, yeah I am." Death nodded wearily, trying to sound confident.

"You sure? You do not believe what she said about Galen, do you?" He pressed.

Death hesitated. "No, no I don't", he gestured to the control board, "we should figure out how to sabotage the stations."

"Right." John acknowledged moving closer to the consoles. "This looks like the master control board", he motioned with his finger, "here is the dockyard facilities, and here is the defensive turrets." John glanced at death for confirmation.

"Right, I will take care of that, why don't you get into contact with the _Kenobi_ and let them know what we are up to." Death ordered pointing at the communications panel.

John agreed, and then moved over to the console opening a channel. "_Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi _this is Lt. John Zaun, come in please."

He heard static and a tuning signal, and then the voice of the Captain. "Good to hear from you Lt, report."

"Captain, we are shutting down the rest of the facilities. You can stop firing and scuttle them at a later date." John reported glancing at Death who was hunched over his own console.

"Very good to hear Lt. We were beginning to lose power. Anything else to report?" The Captain queried.

"Negative, not now anyways, I need to speak to the Commodore and the General…in private. Also we need a shuttle, if we can determine how, we are going to set this place to self destruct."

"Right Lt., we are sending one right away, meet us there in about twenty minutes." The Captain ordered.

"Copy and check, over and out." John signed off as he turned to Death eagerly, "all set?"

"Yeah everything is all powered down." Death nodded.

"We need to go back for Amann and the body of his Master and then get the hell out of here." John decisively ordered.

Death's gaze met John's without hesitation he followed along with him.


	30. The Match is Lit

_RWS Obi-Wan Kenobi. _

Galen Zaun was walking down another corridor, it had been a few months since he was on this ship and he was still getting used to it, getting used to his duties and his new role in life. A temporary flag officer.

He was leafing through another report, another combat intelligence briefing. A saying by a Bothan admiral from the Vong wars said that for every hour of combat led to another seven months of analysis, it seemed to be true.

Galen was concerned though and found it difficult to concentrate. Death had been distant, aloof, ever since the mission, they had barely seen one another and Death had spent much of his time in his Cabin, and some of his time purposefully avoiding his old Master.

Galen thought a lot of it, but in the end it was not his role to pry. He would when he felt it right, in the meantime he would wait for Death to come to him.

"Father!" he heard the voice of his son from behind him, he turned inquisitively to view what his son was doing.

"Son." He smiled in friendly greeting.

"Hey." His son came up to him forlorn.

"What's wrong?" Galen asked alarmed.

"Death is missing." John replied.

Galen's eyes grew wide, "What?"

"He is missing, he checked out a fighter two hours ago, an X-Wing with extra fuel tanks and extra fuel reserves." John reported.

"Really? Well then he could be back?" Galen asked hopefully.

"Impossible, no fighter is to be out of the fighter bay or sensor range for more than two hours. That time has passed." John shook his head in the negative.

"Damn, are you sure that nothing happened on that station?" Galen asked putting an arm on his son and peering directly into his eyes.

"Honestly I cannot be sure either way. As I have said he was out of my sight for five or six minutes. Anything could have happened." John repeated.

"You sure?" Galen asked again.

John sighed guiltily "Actually something I left out of the report, I forgot honest about it, the woman, their leader, said that you killed Death's father."

Galen's eyes widened. "We have to get to the bridge."

"What? Father, it's not true is it?" John asked.

Galen just kept on moving down the hallway.

They got to the bridge and the Captain was looking at his own report. "Ah Commodore we just got orders from Republic Central, we have been reassigned back to the home Galaxy."

"That's good," Galen sounded nonchalant, "you have a fighter out, how could that happen?"

"We are not in combat operations currently, any high ranked officers can request a fighter if any are available." The Captain responded, "don't you know that, you really should read the manual that I let you borrow."

"Yes I should," Galen sighed, "look he is overdue."

"Well we are going to have to call out other forces to do it, the Republic has called us home urgently, and there is nothing more I can do about it." The Captain replied glumly.

"Look it is absolutely vital that we find the pilot." Galen came forward into the room decisively.

"I am sure but there is nothing I can do." The Captain responded hostile.

Galen looked like he wanted to keep up with the argument, but he had to trust, trust that everything would be alright. Trust that his worst fears were unfounded, he wondered if he should warn them, but that would bring out far too much.

The door whooshed behind them and General Maier stepped into the room in full battle dress, he smiled upon seeing the two of them there. "Ah, Captain, Commodore," he bowed his head slightly in friendly greeting, "Lt. Zaun."

"General." The youngest Jedi greeted, he felt tense and puzzled at the events of the day.

"There was a sub code in the communiqué, I have been given my own independent command." The General explained pulling on his sleeves.

"Congratulations," Galen replied not sounding impressed or pleased.

Maier ignored it, "yeah so they need us back there, it's the Eighth division. It comes along with a promotion to Lieutenant General, and a training billet. Apparently Republic Central is getting antsy at the chance of war and they want me to start training the eighth."

"Congratulations General." John nodded, genuinely meaning it, their relationship had become one of mutual, but grudging, respect.

"Thank you Lt." Maier nodded his thanks, and then his eyebrows shot up. "In the meantime though, you have been given temporary command of the _Kenobi _and her surrounding battle group." The General pointed at Galen.

"Me? Why?" Galen was shocked.

"Because, you have combat experience, that is something we need on the front lines. But believe me it is only temporary and the Captain still has command of the ship itself." Maier explained annoyed.

"I see, when does this take effect?" Galen asked anxiously.

Maier's eyes narrowed. "Upon the transfer of command over Corellia, why?"

"No reason." Galen responded.

"Sure." Maier said, he took a pad from a passing aide and then began to read his reports.

_The Jedi Temple. _

"Dark and disturbing the events of late have been, discuss them we must." The Grand Master brought the meeting to order.

"The Republic is under attack." The youngest Master, just appointed to the council stated the obvious.

"Yes, but we must be sure of who the aggressors are. This is the greatest mystery of our times, dark and dangerous is the answers before us." The newest Second Master observed.

"Yes, but we have nowhere to begin. Ever since the attack on the Gandrini shipyards the Jedi Order, or Republic Intelligence, has not been able to ascertain any more information on the threat." Another Master brought up.

"Hmmmm, yes dark and disturbing this mystery is. Much still needs to be answered for. Careful and cautious we must be in our pursuit of the truth. End up like the fallen Knights of old, we could be." The Grand Master warned.

The Jedi considered those words solemnly.

"Yes, but now we have a Jedi on a Republic Warship, with a Military commission, running amok through space, away from the council." One of the Masters snorted disdainfully.

A slight chuckle swept its way through the council chambers.

The Grand Master scowled and held up a silencing hand. "Trust Master Zaun I do, in the right place he is. Doubt him we will not, to slander a fellow Master, not the role of this Council. Answers are needed, that is where our focus should be."

The Council chambers instantly fell into a shocked silence.

"But where do we look?" One of the Masters attentively probed.

The Grand Master grunted. "Too early it is to tell, if patient we are, then the answers will reveal themselves."

The Council considered this disturbing fact uneasily, not used to waiting for anything.

_An Undisclosed Location._

It was dark, the place they were in was pitch black out to a distance, and only the palest of lights lit his path. He was stumbling over the rocky and uneven terrain. He grunted as he bumped into his Lord and Master in front of him.

His name was Reevax. He was the aide to one of the senior Masters in their little cabal that had formed over the last couple of years to deal with the growing threat of the Republic, and its accompanying changes in ideology and attitude.

They finally made it to their 'seats' mere shelves and rock outcroppings which would have been overlooking a deep pit if it had not been so dark.

He bumped into a dark figure and tried to apologize profusely. He did not know the names of anyone here, other than his master. No one did, until their little club decided to take official action it was decided that secrecy was the key to victory. So no one knew each other, no looks, no sights, no names, just simple numbers in case the Republic captured any of them. In fact they rarely met in one group like this, but this was of the utmost importance.

"Order, order, I am calling this meeting to order!" The voice of number one boomed around the rock chamber silencing the inane chatter still spreading throughout the area. As soon as he was satisfied he continued. "Thank you we are here to discuss the unfolding events of a few of our more junior members who decided to take action into their own hands. Simply Numbers 13 and 6, which resulted in the attack on Lesana, and the Gandrini Yards."

A deadly silence filled the chamber.

"Number five do you have anything to say?" The voice inquired through the dark. Reevax shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Yes, I do my Master." His Master spoke.

"Right." Number one spoke in sarcastic tones, "but the real issue is Number 13, he is the one that attacked Lesana and drew the attention of the Republic in the first place, does anyone care to speak for him?"

Reevax could just imagine the leader casting an unseeing eye around the entire chamber waiting for someone to dare to challenge him.

"Well since that answers that question, it is obvious that his actions were rash and stupid, and-" He was interrupted by a loud grunt.

"Forgive me my Lord," What sounded like the voice of Number Three pierced the night, "but I think stating the obvious and dealing out punishments and slanders after the fact is rather counter productive. What we need to do is debate on how to solve the problem."

"True," Number One mused, "but then with the careless actions of Number Six it has now been revealed that this Organization, whatever it is, has massive resources at its disposal, and those resources pertaining to Gandrini has been neutralized. The Republic would be fools to think that is all that exists, and now we have been set back years because of the loss."

"Moreover," Number two cut in smoothly, "it has been revealed that she leaked her position to the Republic, inviting a Republic attack."

Gasps rippled across the assembled body, as well as cries of shock, shame, anger, and humiliation.

"What do you have to say about this Number five? You and her were friends and knew her well, and also knowing her she would not have allowed herself to be slandered even in death. So tell me her excuses for her fatal blunder?" The Leader asked.

His Master cleared his throat. "There was a reason for her actions."

"Care to enlighten us?" The Leader mocked sarcastically.

"Yes I would," he returned smoothly. "She was looking to smoke the Republic out of hiding-"

"And why would she do this?" Someone interrupted.

His Master closed his eyes trying to calm his nerves, "if you would let me finish I will explain." When no other interruptions happened he continued. "Thank you." He sighed. "She was looking to attain two assets, two assets that could contribute greatly to the war and turn the tide between us and the Republic. She felt it worth the risk exposing herself to obtain these two assets because she knew they would likely be a part of the strike force. And even if Gandrini fell then we could still accelerate the war plans by months."

"Obviously she didn't." An unidentified voice mocked sarcastically.

"Obviously not, her plan backfired." His Master sighed.

"And because of that the Republic now is onto us." The leader moaned, sounding genuinely terrified of the prospect, "her actions were rash and unjustifiable."

"And what assets were these that she was looking for?" Number 15, the most junior member of the group asked.

"I am not at liberty to say." His Master dodged the question.

"Oh really?" The leader asked with a mixture of sarcasm and curiosity, but he plowed forward. "Never the less we were promised that if we joined with your human force, yours and six's, that we would have infinite tactical and strategic experiences. Instead we get set back by years, our most valuable commodities are destroyed, and worst of all the Republic knows that something is up. How then do you propose we deal with this?"

His Master did not have a good answer, feeling frustrated and enraged that he was paying for the sins of his good friend and of someone he barely knew.

"We could run, if the Republic suspects us and is going to discover us we could just retreat, go underground and rebuild until we can strike again." One of the more junior members offered.

A murmur of ascent swept through the assembly.

"No," A female voice spoke decisively. "We must take another route. We are so close to getting our lands and our planets and our property back under control. We are so close to the fight that we cannot abandon it now. with our human support and the near-humans and spies of this Galaxy, everything is in place."

"Well, what then do you suggest? We will not be ready for years and they will likely stumble on us before then!" Number 15 asked pointedly.

"I propose that we lay a series of traps and diversions. That we leak information, on our terms and in our way to keep the Republic busy. Give up a few assets that we can afford to lose, and we will do it in our control and on our terms." The voice explained.

"That is a dangerous game, what if they discover us? You are proposing that we give them information that could lead to our whereabouts?" Number 7 scoffed.

"Yes, it will be information that we can control, and it will be on our terms." The voice pressed.

The Leader pounded his gavel in order to calm people. "We cannot possibly agree to this yet without the support of our other Admirals and other important assets. We need to organize and meet with everyone else in order to come to a proper course of action. We just cannot order this on our loose affiliation, especially since we have not officially organized."

"Then that has to be the purpose of our next meeting," His Master proposed, "to determine the proper organization. Meanwhile we will start planning out our next operation of subterfuge."

"Meeting adjourned." The Leader snapped.

Several minutes later when they were safe Reevax decided to ask, his Pad full of notes. "Do you think it can work?"

"I don't know, it's certainly ambitious. But I think it's the best hope we have if we are to push the Republic and reclaim our lands, and that of our fathers. Come we have lots of work to do." His Master took him by the shoulder and led him to the door.


	31. Detour

_Jedi Temple. _

Amann stood before the assembled group of the Council. The feelings around the room were mixed from intense rage to simple boredom, one of the Masters was even looking at her hands examining her fingernails in stark disinterest.

"Call this court to order, I do, of Jedi Padawan Amann we sit in judgment." The Grandmaster started sorrowfully.

"What exactly are his punishments?" One of the presiding Masters wondered.

"It appears Padawan Amann fell in love with his Master and a Superior, having a relationship with her, and hiding it from the Order. Getting attached to her and forming an improper bond given his position." The Second Master explained from memory.

"A grave crime indeed." The Master looking at her nails sat up straight, her eyes bored into Amann's aggressively.

The hairs on the back of Amann's head bristled and he narrowed his eyes, his emotions spiked and raged with himself. He tried to stay calm but his fist clenched and unclenched automatically.

The Grand Master's head swiveled around to study Amann, and he tried to shoot a psychic warning at the young Jedi. But Amann ignored it.

"I sense much anger coming from him, rage, despair, and sorrow. Dark emotions these are." The Second Master turned to the Grand Master with an arched eyebrow.

The Grand Master closed his eyes, pained.

"Well what are we going to do about it?" The Second Master arched his second eyebrow at him.

"In limbo Jedi Amann is, difficult is this decision for us. Nearly a Jedi he is, nearly fully trained he is. About to take the remaining trials he was, no mere simple Padawan he is, this does not happen often." The Grand Master explained.

"Still we have to do something." One of the junior members proposed.

The Grand Master shot her a withering look. "What do you propose, esteemed Master?"

She balked at the gaze and muttered unintelligibly.

The Grand Master's look swirled around the entire room.

"Exile." One of the more senior members proposed simply, "we set him free for a large number of years and let him wander the New Galaxy to learn and to atone for his actions."

"Ha!" Another Master snorted, "so just set him free to wreak havoc and potentially give into his dark emotions?"

"That was not my intention." He shot back, "we will watch him, we will monitor him, but it might be useful for him to gain acceptance." He looked around the room and was met with skeptical looks and gazes. "Look it is obvious we cannot promote him to a Knight at this time, that would be a scandal. We cannot keep him as a Padawan, and no Master given the circumstances will likely take him. He can leave and learn from all the Orders and Sects from this Galaxy, the New Galaxy, learning techniques and philosophies. Hopefully he will atone, and when his exile is over, he can come back or not to suit himself."

"Wise are your words Master, wise is this course of action. Jedi Padawan Amann?" The Grand Master addressed the young Jedi.

"Yes?" He snapped out of his trance.

"Do you understand our ruling?" Asked the Master who proposed the punishment.

Amann hesitated for a second and rifled through his memory, "Yes I do."

"Good," The Grand Master started, "escorted out of here, you will be. For a period of ten years you cannot visit the temple or the capitol, not may you have any contact with the Jedi."

"I understand," Amann bowed being led out, his face froze into an intense look.

_Tatooine_

John and Galen Zaun were sitting in a transport rocketing for the Desert like planet that was not far from where they were sitting, they were now entering the atmosphere.

John was fastened securely in his seat, bored and was busy fiddling with a pad, playing a game on it.

His father was busy staring out the window of the starship looking with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension at the orb below. John knew his history with the planet and knew it had been years since his last visit.

Galen Zaun was the Watchman of Tatooine, a special Jedi, a guardian and protector that was familiar with the planet, the people, and the environment. Though this position was as far as the Jedi Order was concerned, since he was the Watchman of Corellia as well, where he was born and spent much of his life and training. But as far as the people were concerned, and a popular sentiment in the Order, and the politicians and local elite, he was the Watchman.

He spent much of his early adulthood here, first as a Padawan to a Master, and then as a Knight. He spent a lot of time fighting the local drug lords and crime lords, trying to break the stranglehold of the Hutts on the populace that was begging for help. Galen came here as a Sentinel and tried to help the people, earning great respect and infamy.

Since then Tatooine had become a stepping stone, a transitional space between the Republic and the Hutts. Not an official planet in either domain now, but having major influences from both. And both parties had a major presence on the planet still, kept in constant check.

The ship bumped as it began the final approach to the ship facility, heading to land. Simultaneously his overly thin female character in his game yelled in pain and died. John cursed himself being too interested in history and going off on too many tangents.

John unclipped his harness and got out, following his father and the other passengers along for this side mission.

Sora was also on the planet and she said she would meet him on one of the more shady establishments at Mos Eisley. His Father was just here to sight see anyways and now that he was getting older his Father trusted him.

They got out into the hot, blazing, near blinding sun. John instinctively put a hand up in front of himself to shield his eyes as he squinted at the surrounding area, more of the passengers filtered behind him, most of them chatting excitedly.

There looked to be a small, but gaudy, procession waiting for them at the other end of the Space Port, they were politicians, obviously waiting because they were staring blearily at the two of them.

"Father?" John looked up at his Father, suddenly surprised that he was nearly as tall as his father now.

"Yes John, we have an official escort and meeting, someone must have recognized my name." Galen's tone was philosophic, but his eyes showed his unamusement at their situation.

The two groups met and regarded each other curiously for several seconds.

"So it's Governor now?" Galen regarded the leader of the group with a slight smile.

"Yes, so it is Master of the Jedi. And how long has it been since you have been here last, must have been…oh just after you got promoted to Master I think?" The Governor greeted with a haughty, but friendly, look.

"At least that long." Galen mouthed unhappily, feeling guilty that it had been so long.

"Well you are here now, welcome home my friend." He held out his hand and gave Galen's a firm shaking.

"Father, do you know this guy?" John asked.

"Yes son, yes I do. He and I knew each other from the early days of the Desert Gang Wars. He was a sheriff of a small town in those days, awfully political even then. And now he is Governor." His Father sounded chagrined.

"Bah! The people elected me to this position, oh the story that I could tell you about him! But he is so politically apathetic that he used to run off into the middle of the night whenever we would even bring up the subject." The Governor winked. "And what about you young Jedi?" He asked looking at John.

"Me?" John blinked, "well I have always found politics to be intriguing and a fascinating study, I try to keep up on it when I can."

"Oh really?" The Governor feigned a stunned expression. "Well maybe you have missed your true calling in life." He probed.

"I only said I was interested in politics not participating in the political process, I have a much higher, grander, and less bothersome calling." John stood his ground but bowed politely.

The Governor broke out into a hearty, stomach rending, laugh. "I see young Jedi, well he is just a chip off the old block, come come, let me show you my offices. Why he is just like you Galen!"

"In many respects he is." Galen smiled proudly shooting his son a furtive glance.

The Governor stopped and turned back to John. "Did he ever tell you about his stealth like powers, his powers of camouflage and deception? The ones that letshim melt into the background?"

"Yes he knows, I have spent long hours telling him of my exploits." Galen answered annoyed. "But yet adventure of that sort is a game for the young." Galen bowed gracefully.

"Ah, well the offer for the tour still stands?" He asked hopefully.

John waved his hand and shook his head in the negative. "I am sorry I can't, I have got other arrangements in Mos Eisley and need to find a Taxi Speeder."

A sly look passed over the Governor's face. "Meeting someone are you?"

"Yes I am," John replied evenly and then turned to his father, "Father may I go?"

"Yes son, contact me when you are ready to leave." Galen ordered.

John nodded before skipping off.

When he was out of sight and out of hearing range Galen turned to the Governor and gave him a dark look.

"Why did you call me here?" He asked the Governor.

"You accuse me of something?" The Governor responded hurt, "besides you should be glad you have not had an opportunity or the ability to come here for a long time."

"Yes that is true and I am grateful of that," he bowed, "but it was still by your summons that I came here. What's wrong?"

He shifted his position and gestured with his hand to the group that was waiting in the background, the group also shifted their position and one of them came forward, a young woman. "This is the Princess of the current Royal Family. Now that she is of age she wants to thank you for saving her mother, and thus herself, from the mercy of the Hutts. She was remarkably young at the time, barely a new born."

A look of shock came over Galen's face, but then he composed himself and bent at the waist in a bow. "I am honored mi lady, but come what do you have in mind?"

She blushed slightly, "I just want to thank you, perhaps a meal at my place? I make some of the best local cuisine. Just a way of showing my gratitude to you, and a way of us getting to know each other, now that I am getting the chance to meet you. Perhaps you could stay awhile?"

Galen smiled to himself in slight surprise and amusement. "Well the Galaxies and the Republic herself is in crisis, I cannot stay long but I should be able to have a nice quiet dinner." He felt humbled, and touched, and truth be told he needed the break.

"Splendid!" She broke out in a grin, and turned to the Governor, "Governor we will be needing that transport now."

"Yes mi lady." The Governor bowed.

They waited for the transport to take them to her place of residence. It was far into the Desert of Tatooine.


	32. One Last breath

_Mos Eisley_

The Mos Eisley cantina had not changed that much in the many years of its existence. Just moved. The original was bombed out many years ago in a terrorist attack during the Desert Wars. After that it was declared a historical monument, and a new one was built across the street.

It had many of the old amenities of the original, dancers, exotic music, fine drink, food, and a wide assortment of patrons.

Many of whom, at that point in time, were females of various species.

Many of whom heads swiveled around at the whooshing of the main door at the front of the place.

They admired the appearance of the young man, checking him out, looking him over. He was dressed in the robes of the Jedi, had a crop of shiny brown hair cut short and even, and was athletically maintained.

John stepped through the threshold of the bar and gulped. It was dark and smoky, with rays of light coming down through windows in the top, and the lit up tables casting a pale glow on the patrons.

His eyes were drawn to the five women 'checking him out', and he gulped again.

"Hey John, over here!" A female voice called to him, and then waved at him from the back of the bar.

John smiled thinly and proceeded over to her, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the five women looked crestfallen before turning back to the bar and ordering another round.

He grinned when he was able to get to her, and recognized her.

"Sora." He greeted friendly.

"Long time no see." She responded, smiling at him and her eyes were sparkling.

"Yeah." He downcast his eyes guiltily.

She instantly countered the awkward silence by, swinging her legs off the stool. "Come on lets go for a walk."

He nodded, as she put her arm through his and hung off of his side. He started to walk out of the bar, and noticed that the five women were shooting daggers at the two of them as they left.

As they entered the bright sun and the whirling sand, he spoke "What was that about?"

"Oh those girls are giving me crap ever since I got here, the precious little Jedi brat. This outta shut them up, me leaving on the arm of a cute Jedi with a Lightsaber." She curtsied to him and giggled a bit.

He looked at her before musing "that's true I suppose."

Then he really looked at her, now that they were out in the clear daylight he could make her out clearly. She was in a loose fitting, sleeveless robes, and her hair was in a bun.

"So why are you here?" He asked her.

"About six months ago a viral infection broke out on the planet, its stumped all the local doctors, so they called in outside help, including the Jedi, we have been about here for two months." She explained, and then turned to him, "I have missed you, it's been awhile."

"Yeah three years, since the battle of LJ-115." He muttered. "Sorry that I have not been keeping up with you." He blushed.

"Hey it's OK, I know the life of a Jedi is a busy and complicated one, especially for Padawans." She smiled at him. "We are here now that is all that counts."

"Yeah. So not a Knight yet?" He asked.

"Nope, not a Knight yet, going to be taking the trials soon." She responded.

He looked at her again. "You look," he cleared his throat, "nice."

"Thank you." She beamed at him. "But you are not just saying that because you have not seen me in a while." She winked.

He blushed slightly. "No you look really nice, you have grown up."

"So have you." She murmured getting a bit close to his face and studying him.

He cleared his throat and they both looked away.

"So what are we doing, not just walking are we?" He asked.

"What you don't like walks or you just don't like the company?" She responded in mock hurt, and then winked at him.

"Sorry." He asked, after she rib digged him in response.

He looked up at the sky. "It's awfully hot out, perhaps we should find some shade or some cover."

She sighed, "Alright," She conceded, "the space port is this way and maybe we can find a restaurant or eatery of some sort."

He nodded, "sounds like a plan. Race you there," he winked at her.

"Now you are talking." She giggled as they both ran into the cool building, startling a bunch of small creatures.

_Other side of the Planet_

Galen Zaun was sitting down in an over plush dining room. He was looking around trying to hide his surprise and his wonder at the hanging ornaments, the chandeliers and the rich strips of gold.

The table was simple and wooden, but the room and area around it was small and cluttered.

The princess sat down.

"Is this really how the royal family says thank you on Tatooine?" He asked her cocking his head.

"No, we say thank you, this is for gratitude and to get to know my savior better." She smiled.

"Ah I see," He smiled thinly, entwining his hands together and interlinking his fingers.

The meal was served by a young assistant, she had her blond hair cut remarkably short and was wearing tan colored sleeveless tunic and pants.

"Thank you." She nodded to the assistant who laid out the local delicacies on the table.

"So, what is your name?" Galen asked, trying to keep his voice neutral.

She laughed. "Well until you get to know me better, and vice versa, my title will suffice."

"Very well Princess." He nodded to her before picking up his eating utensil and began to shovel the food into his mouth.

A long silence passed as they both ate their food, it began to get uncomfortable.

"You know for us to get to know each other requires us to speak." She smiled at him prodding him on.

"Yes I know." He said guiltily. "Look it's been a…while." He muttered quietly.

She twisted her neck to look at him sideways, "a while since what?"

He felt at a loss of words, he fluttered around slightly, and shifted around in his seat. "Since any of this. By the Force it's been a while."

She waited for him to continue with the thought.

He nervously continues, "Yeah it's been a while," he sighed. "Since everything like this. I have been so busy fighting wars, training my son and Death, and fighting. Kept myself busy with one thing or another. Too much going on to really pause and think."

"Of what?" She asked him, hoping he would continue.

"Arkadi, her name was Arkadi. We were close." He sighed and looked at his food that was barely touched. "Too close. I got trapped on a planet in the New Galaxy, for years and years, while we were gone and while I was training Death, someone invaded her home and killed her. You know what the economy is like."

"Oh I am sorry." She tried to comfort him, but was unsure what to do, so she brought up a sympathetic smile and looked at her sadly, hoping that he would continue speaking and she would be able to help.

"Nah don't be, not your fault, but the saddest part of it is that I barely remember this. I barely remember her much these days," he sniffed and wiped his nose with a cloth, "always too damn busy. Playing with the Jedi."

She sighed, then bought up a slight smile, "you should probably finish your food before it gets cold."

He chuckled, "Yeah that is probably advisable. I guess you truly never get over anything like this." He picked up his utensil and then began eating his food, anew, but this time slower, taking more savory bites and enjoying the meal to the fullest.

He finished several minutes later and then stared at his host, then out the window, his brows furrowed, it was getting late.

She followed his gaze out the window.

"Look it's getting late, I should probably get going, hunt down my son. We can find somewhere to stay." He got up.

She stood as well, joining him. "No stay here, I insist. Most of the hotels around here are overly priced and I know the Jedi are too stingy and do not have a lot in the way of funds."

He considered it by stroking his beard intently. "Why?"

"Because you have had a rough night, and I have a feeling the second you go through that door it will be back to a life of duty and sacrifice. Grieve a little." She smiled down at him.

He sniffed and rubbed his nose again. "Thank you."

"You are welcome." She responded rubbing his shoulder.

They set up the room together, pulling out the bed and the sofa, and placing blankets and pillows on it.

"Good night Galen." She bowed before leaving the room.

"Good night Princess." He whispered to the door, smiling to himself before lying down.

_Mos Eisley Spaceport. _

John was sitting eating with Sora. She had a plate of a local delicacy, he had Spaghetti, which told her he had simple tastes. She was dressed in more casual attire.

They were enjoying their company and eating their food, though John's was hardly the best. For his dish being his favorite they had to ship this in and freeze it, it tended to lose its taste after being in storage so long. Especially since it was not favored on Tatooine, or ordered by many of the visitors that came here.

"How is it?" She asked.

"Fine." He responded absentmindedly, poking his food trying to see if it was dead. "You know I have never met your master." He brought his head to look at her.

She chuckled, "no you have not had the opportunity. She gives me my freedom and lets me do my thing. Including seeing you, nothing much to do at this stage. We have tried all the tests that we can on the virus, and nothing is working."

"I see." John responded, shaking his head to clear it.

She laughed. "Not your favorite topic?"

"Nope" He blushed.

"All sword fighting and starships?" She teased at him winking.

"Something like that." He smirked.

"Well we all can't be perfect." She snickered getting back to her food.

"No we can't." He replied contemplatively.

_The Princess's Apartment. _

Galen stirred as he woke. He heard a noise but was not sure what it was. He stared blearily through the darkness trying to pick out the source, he clutched his Lightsaber at the side of his belt.

"Hello anyone there?" he queried the darkness, his eyes were finally starting to adjust.

No answer. He sighed and shook his head, trying to go back to sleep.

Someone in a blur popped up next to his bed making him yell in shock.

"Oh it's just you," he sighed, relieved to see the house keeper.

"I am sorry about this." She moaned sorrowfully.

Galen arched an eyebrow at her before a shockwave of apprehension flooded his body.

He tried to reach for his Lightsaber but was met by a thin white spray to the face from a cylinder, he was knocked out cold.

He woke up what seemed like a few seconds later, he jolted out of the bed, it was daylight burning fiercely through the windows. He moaned as he got out of bed.

He heard a beeping from his coms, he slapped it active. "Master Zaun?" He heard the voice of his son. "Dad?"

Galen moaned again, scooped up the device and stumbled out the door.

"Galen, you're up late, did you have a nice rest?" The Princess greeted cheerily.

"You're aid, where is she?" Galen responded sternly.

"I don't know, I have not seen her. Had to make my own caf this morning." She giggled.

"Father?" John's came again sounding perplexed and worried.

"She tried to poison me." Galen shouted at the Princess.

"She did?" The Princess asked quizzically.

Galen nodded.

"I will start a search at once, but you can understand this is a local matter." She explained.

Galen nodded bitterly. "Yes I understand."

"Galen you there?" An unfamiliar, female, voice drifted over the com.

"Yes I am here, what is it damn it!" He barked into the device.

"Father!" John sounded surprised and relieved. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…we are not sure…what is it?" Galen asked.

"Nothing, just checking in." John replied.

"Alright," Galen sighed. "Pack things up, order us tickets, we are leaving."

"If you say so." John's disembodied voice sounded disappointed.

"I know son, I will see you in a little while." Galen briskly signed off.

"You are leaving? Now?" The Princess asked in shock.

"Yes we are." Galen shot back bitterly.

"Why?" She asked full of concern.

"Because I was betrayed, maybe not by you, maybe not by anyone but I let my guard down and I trusted and that trust was violated." Galen pledged coldly.

The Princess's eyes teared up, and Galen abruptly headed out, hastilly fastening his swishing robes to his shoulders.

_Mos Eisley spaceport. _

John was standing outside the Starliner that would ferry them to Fondor. They were to join up with a ship that was heading back to the New Galaxy, the price was quite expensive.

Galen was already onboard checking their tickets against the roster and checking their seats.

John was outside staring at Sora, who was staring right back at him. He was not sure what to say, this parting was difficult for him. He had treasured getting caught up with her again over the last couple of days. Seeing her again was like seeing a long lost friend. And indeed that is what she was.

His first real friend since he got kicked out. Since his life had changed, and the first girl that he had really gotten to know. Their correspondence was probably a saving grace for him, that and his father, his training to be a Jedi, and Death, who was now missing.

"So I guess this is goodbye then." John waved.

"For now." Sora smiled thinly at him.

She ran over to him and they embraced each other closely, holding each other for a long while.

"Take care of yourself John." She whispered, as she quickly wiped a lone tear from her cheek.

"Yeah," he released her and held her by the shoulders looking into her eyes and smiling warmly. "the same goes for you."

They parted company and he marched up the ramp into the waiting space ship, looking back at her at her retreating form as the ramp closed, he was the last passenger.


	33. The Plunge

_Republic Space. _

With the crisis continuing to grow, and with information mounting that the threat was more serious than was first estimated, the Senate considered an emergency war funding bill.

It passed.

And now the Republic was bracing for war, and making preparations. Finally the Government was doing something and injecting much needed funds into local economies that were being directed to a specific goal and cause.

Workers and sentients rushed into shipyards throughout the Republic to find work. Old ship yards on Ord Mantell, Fondor, Mon Calamari, and Corellia were reopened. Other civilian shipyards were converted over to the military grade shipyards used to build warships, and still others had their civilian ship projects delayed and converted to war construction. Still more civilian ships were converted or bought by the Republic Military for Military use. Scrap yards and ship graveyards were emptied of their wares and their supplies and put to good use, dry yards and other dock yard facilities were busy reactivating ancient Warships and fighters. With names like the _Challenger, Victorious, Vanguard, and Vanquished_, ships of all sizes and all classes were coming back to life.

Republic space was a beehive of activity as ships were crisscrossing over the hyper lanes at an impossible rate and speed. Ferrying supplies and people from the Outer Rim to the Ship yards in the Mid Rim and the Core worlds, and still other ship yards in the Outer Rim came to life.

And for those that could not find jobs in shipping, construction, or a Sectorial position, there was always the Military. Now that there was a need, and with patriotic fervor spreading throughout the Republic left the recruitment offices swamped. Long lines stretched forth from them on a hundred worlds, male, female, non gender, multi gender, alien, human, all wondering where they could be needed the most. Some of them became disheartened and left, but within a month of the Military Reconstruction Act the unemployment rate plummeted from around eleven percent to just under two.

The Republic was going to war and everyone knew it.

Thus the postal services, holo vids, pad makers, and the HoloNet news networks were busy providing their services and covering the rapidly developing events with precision, and on a round the clock basis, day in and day out.

_An Undisclosed Location_

Reevax was in another stone chamber sitting uncomfortably on a jagged outcropping making him shift in his seat, his master was trying to calm him and keep him still.

The mood was jovial and there was a buzz of banter around him. Despite the seriousness of the situation the group seemed happy, relieved, glad to be moving on, and confident in their eventual success.

"Order, order, we must have order!" Their leader's voice boomed throughout the chamber, he was grandstanding and seemed to share in the mood of the assembled crowd.

They all knew why they were here, they had tallied the votes and decided on the proper course of action. They were going to war.

"As it stands now we have approved of the plan, and will officially organize into an alliance of our interests. We will go forth with the plan, and lay down diversions to the Republic. Exactly what those are will remain to be seen. We can do this, this alliance is now formed." The Leader ordered, with a swagger to his voice, before banging the gavel on the rock.

"So what shall this group be called?" A voice asked from the top most row of the chamber.

"Oh I bet the Republic will have a name for us soon enough." Another member sneered in contempt.

The leader banged the gavel again but was laughing. "I think simply the 'Alliance against the Republic', will suffice for now."

"What about the planet that we are on?" Another member suggested.

"What about it?" His master, number five, asked.

"Well since we are all here, and since this is the planet that we are on, well people name battles after locations." The member sounded uncertain.

"Maybe but let us keep it simple." The leader opined, "Anyways we have to specifically discuss what we are going to do, now that we have decided to do it."

"We need to keep it simple." Number three grumbled, "We cannot make this too complicated or the Republic _will_ figure it out. And then we will lose. We have to give them enough information to keep them suspicious, but not enough to give them solid leads of the full breadth and scope of our assault."

"This is going to require careful, and quite frankly a brilliant, military and political coup." Number five mused.

"Perhaps," Number three conceded, "but that is what we have decided to do. This is the course of action that we have decided to embark upon. When we pull the trigger there is no turning back."

"I know that," Number five spat, "But I am just urging further caution."

With those words the business moved onto specifics, the banter was gone, the confident tones were gone, only the rigid determination to get the job done remained.

_The Chancellor offices._

Chancellor Loraan was in the middle of reading a pad giving an update on the war preparations. Since the bill had passed the Republic had shown an amazing ability to turn around and convert in preparation for the coming war.

His eyes were swollen and his cheeks were rosy red. He had a tall bottle of Corellian brandy next to him, half empty.

Even though he was Kuati by birth, in his raising, and temperament, he liked to dabble in the higher decadences of his planet, despite his birth. But every once and a while he liked to fall into the cheap, the dirty, and the sleazy. Especially since that is how he felt.

Now that war seemed to be a foregone solution, now that he had signed the bill to give the economy and many people a purpose, he felt dirty, he felt lost, and he felt solemn at the lives that were to be lost and the suffering that was about to be unleashed on his Republic.

It was funny, he reflected, when he had started off life as being such an unabashed and shameless radical. Thirty years of serving the people, and learning from the history of the Government, had taught him better. Serving from the Senate to his current position. From a young junior senator that was appointed to the senate, to the most powerful public official in the entire Galaxy.

His lessons were not so much in so called Political Expediency but in, what he felt anyways, the proper role of Government. This had made him many enemies over the years, including the group that had started him on the road to this office. He was surprised that he had made it this far, and now he almost wished had hadn't. War was the last thing on his agenda, and he felt terrible about it no matter the popular sentiment, or no matter how necessary it was in the end. So he took another swig from his drink, before turning back to the window.

It was sunset, and as the sun was going down he looked over his beautiful city. The Sun casted long shadows throughout the area, the sky was a blazing orange, but it looked solemn, as if the light was dying. This complemented his mood perfectly.

_New Galactic Space_

The following years passed at a blazing pace, as John and Galen were cutting their way into the history books, etching out a legend in the making. They were heroes and much beloved by the troops and by the Republic who read of their exploits, their legend was growing. As with all legends fanciful stories began to grow out of the simple seeds that they were planting.

They were becoming the most important Jedi in the 'war effort', much to the chagrin of several of the Council and several up and coming stars within the Jedi Order who would one day serve on the Council.

Especially Master Gundar.

But there John and Galen were, being requested by the military and often being sent by the Jedi on a dizzying array of missions whenever they came up. Mainly by the Council, being sent on a number of commands and ships, going hither and thither. Sometimes with Sora, sometimes not, sometimes on the _Obi-Wan Kenobi_ and sometimes not.

Sora had become an important battlefield medic and was promoted to Knighthood soon after, also going where she was needed, at terrorist bombings and at the front lines, at odd diseases, her work load was very busy.

But she and John always found time, no matter what they were doing, to write each other. They had become their only sense of stability in a world that had suddenly gone mad.

Then of course John also had his father to lean on and rely upon.

But every spare moment that they had was taken up searching for the wayward Death, searching every planet and rock. They were keeping busy, no time to think, no time to reflect, no time to remember and think on the past. As the Jedi temple, Corellia, and Tatooine were becoming distant memories.

And with Death no longer sharing in their adventures both John and Galen had gotten close.

They blazed a path through history with the blade, cutting up sentients and battle droids, ambushing supply yards and eliminating their targets.

Galen had found plenty of time and excuses to use his camouflage ability, blending into the tree tops as people passed by him and he tackled them from behind knocking them out. But the nagging feeling that something was wrong was constantly at the back of his mind, along with the feeling that he was living off of borrowed time. He was old, he should have had a nice comfortable seat on the Council or reading reports with Master Skywalker. Instead he was busy raging a minor war, being the most noteworthy person in an otherwise note less war, but one that he felt was escalating to something big.

The two of them had taken on the quality of a myth, of a minor story, few people actually knew their names, but knew of their reputations as the 'war' was still a bunch of small isolated skirmishes. But even then whispers began to echo around the hallowed halls of the Jedi Temple that there was a rising star among the Padawans, one who had great power and knowledge and raw ability. Someone who was destined to become a legend in his own right.

This made some of the masters nervous, and others proud as there was still much debate in the Temple as to what was going on.

The Republic had huddled around their screens and watched the almost endless torrent of information and reports flooding in from the front, even with little going on, even with much of it repetitive, what had gone on had captured the attention of a Galaxy, a Galaxy that felt they were back on the rise, and were defending peace and justice.

But at the heart of it all were two Jedi, fighting their war with their abilities and growing up fast. But yet both of them were getting the nagging feeling that they were heading for something, that they were coming to the end of something, and were bound for darkness.

As John's twenty second birthday dawned, the small transport they were on was clawing for a pale yellow orb, splashed in the depths of space.


	34. Final Day

_Republic Transport_

Galen Zaun was on the bridge of the Transport looking at the sensor displays at the front of the bridge while sipping gingerly on his scalding hot beverage.

They were heading for another unknown planet, another unnamed rock that was unexplored by the Republic. It was the fifth planet from the sun and the Republic had received an anonymous tip giving spatial coordinates there, along with the schematics of an enemy supply base carrying war materials.

This was the first big break in the growing crisis.

But given that it was based on a tip from an unknown and unconfirmed source, it seemed too good to be true, the Republic and the Jedi were proceeding with caution. For starters they sent in the best Jedi duo in this part of space. Namely Galen and his son.

It was a sad fact of life, as he watched the orb grow steadily larger in the forward view port. He was thinking of Arkadi again, missing her greatly at a time like this.

And thinking of Death, sending a chill shooting up and down his spine, he looked at the planet again with uncertainty.

He felt a tugging on the sleeve of his robes.

He put his cup down and turned slowly to the thing trying to get his attention.

It was a protocol droid.

"I beg your pardon sir but this just came through over the communication net." It announced with simple mechanical precision.

"Thank you." Galen nodded to it taking the paper from the lose hands of the droid.

He read it over and stiffened, he read it again and his eyes widened perceptibly, as he held it loosely in his hand.

A door whooshed behind him.

"Hey Father." John greeted as he came into the room, taking a caf from a droid before shooting it a look.

"Hey son." Galen responded hollowly.

"What is that?" John asked gesturing with the cup to the piece of paper in Galen's hand.

Galen turned to his son and stared for a bit, before smiling and making a shrugging motion with the paper. "A promotion, of sorts."

John smiled crookedly. "What, they making you an Admiral now? You are certainly old enough." John winked.

Galen laughed. "No not that kind of promotion. It's the Jedi. They are making me the new Master Sentinel since the last one just passed away."

John grinned, "Congratulations father," his hand shot out and Galen grasped it as they together gave a firm shake.

"Yeah well it's really nothing." Galen shrugged.

"Nothing?" John responded shocked. "You are now the most powerful, in the eyes of the Jedi, Sentinel in the entire Order; By title, by position, and by actual ability."

"But I don't deserve it!" Galen barked, and then he clenched his fists as his body shook with barely controlled grief, he tried to get himself to calm down.

His son reached out a tentative arm and grasped his shoulder. "Father? What's wrong?"

Galen sighed and stroked his beard absentmindedly. "I lied, I lied because I felt that I did not have any other choice. I lied because I liked it, and I was running out of time. So I felt at the time….so long ago." He shook his head, "Too long ago." He chuckled warily "I can barely remember it."

"Father?" John's voice shook as his throat suddenly felt dry, a lump was beginning to gather at the base of it.

"I lied about Death, to Death. I was no friend of his Father's, I killed him. It was a duel on Kandar, I won, he asked me to find his son…the current Death. I did, bounty hunters nearly beat me to it, I killed them, and then to get Death out of there I lied to him. His mother was dead, probably step mother or something." He explained, sitting down, his shoulders slumping.

"Yeah but his father obviously wanted you to take care of him?" John also pulled up a chair.

"Yeah but Death doesn't know that, all he knows…or suspects…is that I lied about killing his father." Galen slams his fist into the arm rest. "All I did to him was violate his trust."

"Does the council know?" John asked after running his hands through his hair disheveling it and making it stand up on end.

"Yes of course they know!" He spat, "and they continue to do nothing about it."

John drummed his fingers on his knee before continuing. "Look, I know this is tough for you, I know how you must be feeling…ah hell no I don't. But we still have a mission to run."

"I know son, let the launch bay know that we will be heading down soon and tell them to prepare." Galen ordered, leaning back in the chair.

John nodded and patted his father's knee on the way out before heading off.

_The Planet Surface._

The drop ship swooped down out of the sky, and then hovered for a second, flying around low to the ground sweeping over the plains.

It floated steadily as the two Jedi leapt out of the transport, they brought their Lightsabers to hand with Force ability and glared around the horizon for a couple of minutes.

"I don't see anything." John reported sounding suspicious.

"Neither do I." Galen stretched out to his full height as if to peer around the rolling plains getting a better view.

"Sir, what do you want me to do?" The Pilot asked peeking out of the open hatch.

"Head back to the ship, keep a constant lock on us, we are going to investigate the area." Galen ordered.

"What's up?" John asked looking at him sideways.

"I feel something, something is here." Galen responded neutrally, scanning the horizon with a pair of macrobinoculars.

"What?" John asked, scanning the horizon with his eyes, and then reaching out with the Force. He felt something, dark and oppressive, but vague and undefined.

"I don't know. But come on lets go find out." Galen stowed the binoculars in his vest and started to move out, John followed at twenty meters.

They moved out for over an hour, making good pace over the smooth, even planes. The yellow grass shot out of the ground in tufts here and there, causing them to move around to avoid them. They were traveling along the perimeter of a Canyon, it declined steeply onto a dry river bed, leaving a solid cliff face of pure rock, leading to jagged rock at the bottom.

John had his Saber in hand and was balancing on the edge, shooting uncertain looks over the side, and steadying his nerves.

In the distance there was a solid glass bridge that led from one end of the canyon to the other, connecting the two sides.

The sun was blazing overhead, beating down on them high in the sky. John was starting to feel winded as sweat was poring over his brow, as the feeling was beginning to increase.

Galen took a sharp right hand turn in the middle of a path, heading off in a new direction, and picking up his pace till he was nearly jogging.

He stopped suddenly, as did John. All of John's senses were on edge as he was straining to hear anything. He heard a rustle of leaves and spun around to better hear the noise , but he was lifted off his feet, his eyes widened as he looked at Galen.

Galen's hands were raised over his head and he was manipulating John as he made him fly through the air.

_Father!_ He screamed at Galen using the Force in his head.

Galen just shook his head sadly.

John landed painfully behind some rocks, providing him with cover but he could clearly see the path, and his father.

He tried to get up but found that his muscles somehow would not move, he could not get up, as if he was pinned. He suddenly realized he was pinned by the power of the Force, he tried to open his mouth in protest but that did not work. All that would work was his neck.

He heard another rustling of vegetation and craned around.

A figure dressed in full body, tall, dark robes stalked over to Galen. Galen was staring wearily at the newcomer, but from his perspective John could not identify the man, since he was hooded.

But the voice was unmistakable.

"Hello old friend." The figure sneered.

"Hello Death." Galen replied bowing, "you look well."

Death took off his hood revealing smooth, clear, the palest of white skin. "So do you, well for someone who is old and infirm."

Galen bowed. "Nothing I can say is there?"

"Nope." Death responded, aggressive, the challenge was simple.

"I see." Galen sounded resigned to his fate, resigned to this moment. Whether he was going to survive or not was meaningless.

A sudden wave of despair shot through John's body, but his muscles could not work, and he could not release a sob.

Two rays of Light shot forth from their two Lightsabers crossing each other in mid air. It was sparking and sizzling, cracking throughout the air, sounding loud even from John's perspective, both combatants were leaning into the attack, their muscles flexing and pumping, sweat breaking out on both of their brows.

Galen leapt back about ten meters, Death swooped in, he was sweeping his Lightsaber down low. The now red blade threatening to cut Galen off at the knees caused him to dodge defensively.

Galen countered by leaping high into the air and flipping, he landed hard and spun around, pivoting on the ball of his foot.

This caught Death off guard as he nearly charged into the active blade, he too tried to leap but Galen rolled with him and kicked out, shooting Death into the air.

Death landed hard and snarled before charging again.

A series of slashes and blows were exchanged between the two combatants. Galen was parrying and on the defensive, his Bronze blade a flurry of near unseen activity, staying one step ahead of Death.

But it was not enough.

John could feel the feelings of guilt pouring off of his father. He could feel that his father was loosing, but somehow this was all according to his plan. That and his own age, combined with the superiority of his opponent, made it difficult for him to win in the first place.

Death charged, he could sense the weakness of his prey, could sense that his prey was about to die at his hand.

John wanted to help, knew that together him and his father could win. John did not care what his father did, he did not deserve to be killed.

Death separated from the combat and shot a ball of lighting at his father.

Galen brought his saber up just barely in time to deflect it, but the overwhelming force of the strike drove him down to one knee. He was panting, his gray hair was drenched with sweat, lightning was tickling at his beard.

Death relented for a second.

"You have grown weak old man." Death spat.

"No," Galen grinned. "I trained you too well. You know in a sick twisted, but very poetic way, I have won here. You beat me because of my training."

"Really? Where did I get the lightning?" Death sneered.

"That is easy." Galen smiled, he got up and held his blade in a defensive posture.

_Father! _John screamed in his head, devastated.

Galen's eyes swiveled around to stare into his son's. _I love you Son, May the Force be With You._

Death charged. He swept in and their blades clashed with a resounding noise reverberating down the canyon and reflecting back on the combatants.

Galen retreated under the blows, pacing back, until he was holding his blade in one hand, swinging it and twirling it in the air. Death kicked out connecting with Galen's chest flinging him back.

Death moved to hammer his Saber into Galen's but Galen held his blade close to his head and deflected it.

But Death grinned, he wrapped the blade around, went back to Galen, and then impaled Galen through the chest. Galen's eyes widened as he could feel the life drain from him.

John felt the Force restraints leave him, he could move again. He knew he had to be careful, so he twisted around and got on all of his fours and prepared to pounce if Death even came anywhere close.

"Where are you? I know you are here. Come out come out wherever you are, John…John Zau-na!" Death shouted mockingly to the air as he maneuvered over to the rocks where John was 'hiding'.

John was ready to pounce. He leapt up and shot his hand out, Death gasped and yelled as the Force blast flew him through the air, far far away.

John ran over to his father, nearly stumbling over the rocks.

"Father!" John yelped as he collapsed, near breathless next to his father. Picking his head up, cradling it in his lap.

Galen's body wracked with pain and he blinked his eyes open. He smiled. "Son."

"Shhhhh father, don't talk, save your strength, maybe I can get some help." John soothed, staring into his father's eyes. "Please hold on."

"I can't son." He coughed. "It's my time to go, I am content, and at ease…. it was my destiny, I could feel it. It was time that I paid for my sins, so you didn't have to."

"But father you can't go," John pleaded, "you still have so much life left to live."

Galen coughed again, this time blood spluttered out staining John's robes. "Son, it is my time to go. You cannot blame yourself." He hacked up more blood sounding like his time was near.

Rage shot throughout the core of John's being, his eyes darted around the area, expecting, hoping, that his enemy, his target, the thing, was there so that John could kill it.

Galen picked up on it, he stared at John puzzled studying him. He grabbed a tuft of John's robes dragging John's face close to his. He was losing his voice and losing his ability to speak. His voice spilled out in a horse whisper.

He stared up at his son. "John…do not…" He coughed. "Do not react with rage, with pain, with passion, no matter what. You are such a good boy…you have so much potential. But do not fight with rage. Only calmness and serenity, that is the key, unlock the Force and no opponent can stand before you." His eyes glazed over, he looked so content and happy, as he passed beyond.

"Father?" John whimpered, he tried to shake his father's head, but it just lolled to the side.

Then Death finally made an appearance. "Aww, did I hurt the wittle Wedi's feelings." He mocked.

John stood and dusted off his robes. "You will be brought to justice by me and the Jedi."

Death swaggered cockily around. "What by you? Little John Zaun?"

"Yes, by me." John stated simply holding back his rage at his father's request.

Death laughed. "Oh give it up little Jedi, I am more than ten years your age, your experience, and your skill."

John sighed and grimaced as they began to circle each other. "Well… and just like my father that could lead to your undoing…so we will see won't we?"

Death grinned feral.

John shot his hand out picking up the fallen Lightsaber hilt when Galen trapped him. He summoned it to his hand and then swished it in the air, he pointed at Death and activated it.

The blue beam shot through the air aiming at Death's throat, it humming aggressively, though he was still a couple dozen meters away.

Death brought his weapon to hand and leapt, he charged with an aggressive battle cry.

John dug his feet in the ground, rose his Lightsaber out to the left holding the blade by his eye, and the two blades clashed in mid air sizzling wildly.

Their battle had begun.


	35. A Friendship Asunder

_The Unknown Planet_

The plains were a whirlwind of dust. Thunder claps reverberated up and down the canyon. The blades hissed as they came into contact with each other, grunts and moans split the air, and then the humming of blades insistently reminded anyone who would have heard it that two Force Sensitives were in the midst of a life and death struggle.

John parried and swung his Lightsaber in short cuts and thrusts, keeping Death off guard and making sure that Death was on the attack.

It took precision, concentration, and a tremendous test of willpower and patience.

It also took vast reservoirs of physical energy and aptitude with one's body. That was where John had the advantage, no matter how great one was in the Force it did not beat actual muscle and strong sinew.

And over the last five years John transformed himself from a slightly overweight person who snaked his way around the school grounds and just barely passed his physicals, to a well tuned fighting machine, a weapon in his own right.

Death's teeth grimaced and sweat was pouring off his brow, after his duel with Galen he expected his son to be easy prey. But John had proven to be a tenacious opponent worthy of the battle that Death was offering.

Death leapt through the air and charged, he shot lightning in John's direction and John shot his Lightsaber straight out, absorbing it. He then swung his Lightsaber down hard, the blue shaft of light sizzling and humming violently, shaking, and threatening to come out of his hand. He redirected the ball of lightning to the side of him and as it exploded he rolled on the side on the ball of his foot.

Death smiled.

"You have done well young Jedi." He acknowledged with a small nod.

"Thanks." John batted back sarcastically, his chest heaving as he was trying to catch his breath for the next volley.

"But you must know you cannot resist, however you have proven to actually be a challenge." Death acknowledged with a slight sneer.

"My father trained me well." John replied.

"Did he now? Well he was no match for me, only a weak old man." Death asked curiously.

"Yes he did and it will be that which will allow me to defeat you!" John yelled angrily.

"We shall see, defend yourself young Jedi." Death challenged, he rose his Lightsaber in a battle stance and charged with a vicious yell.

John just had a second to raise his Lightsaber with one hand in a feeble defense as Death just slashed on through.

John used the momentum and swung around on the ball of his foot, kicking out with precise movements, making things up on the cuff, not intending to do damage. But he bought time.

Death leapt deftly out of the way and charged.

John returned running on his feet backwards, shaking his head violently to clear his sight from the sweat.

This time Death was right on him, as John just had a second to raise his weapon. But this time he was ready, he held his weapon in both hands and hacked through the air batting the attacks of Death in precise strokes.

John was retreating, towards the canyon wall, rapidly. The one disadvantage of being on the defensive right now his opponent had the advantage. So John's feet were moving rapidly, he was dancing in a crazy waltz, intense, close, and intimate. Always backing up, always running out of room.

Occasionally he stepped into the attack, stepped inside of Death's arc and batted his Lightsaber in. Batting his out of the way, putting up an attack giving him just enough room to maneuver. He was heading over to the bridge, he looked over his head and gulped, rediscovering his ancient fear of heights.

They finally reached the edge, the bridge he was heading for. It was a solid glass structure, with a simple railing, looking down at the dry river bed below. He looked down again and gulped, his head swirled, he tried to get into the attack and push Death back. Death simply raised his main hand and elbowed John in the face backing him onto the bridge.

An battle that had begun in a hurricane of strikes and blows and counter moves turned into a timid affair. Instead of the vicious strikes that were exchanged between the two bitter rivals turned into probing, lackluster attack. Neither of them were used to this, and both of them did not want to go into the canyon.

This gave John time to breathe as Death came on, buying him vital seconds to regroup and prepare again.

They exchanged these blows for several minutes, almost as long as the first part of the duel itself, backing up and heading towards the center. John continuing to give space and time, but it was a harder fight despite the lack of actual intensity.

Death grimaced and came on again. He kicked out with a whirl of his robes with his left foot and nearly caught John in the stomach. John leapt back instantly and brought his Lightsaber into a defensive posture.

Death leapt forward and brought his Lightsaber in on a hammer blow. John caught it and pinned it, slowly pushing his Lightsaber off to one side. Death continued to push against it. The blade caught on the edge of one of the railings and sparked through it, cutting through the metal and the mesh wiring. They pushed it the other way trying to get free but only succeeding in cutting the other side. The glass bridge began to creek.

John and Death looked down at the bottom of the canyon worriedly, then at each other. Death slashed out with his blade which was easily blocked by the Jedi.

They both started to run back the way they came from the canyon wall.

But the sudden shift of weight on the crippled and poorly constructed bridge was too much. The damage was done and the bridge made with a resounding SNAP as the two ends of the bridge separated almost down the exact centerline.

John nearly lost his footing and fell but he braced himself on what remained of the railing and then on small metal holders that kept the glass in place. He grimaced as he slid down farther, the air rushing and whirling about him through his hair as they plunged towards the rock face. His eyes stinging at the sudden change, he looked up at Death.

They hit the rock wall, John felt like he was punched in the gut by a proton torpedo as he nearly lost his grip and fell. He yelped at the impact, his bones and every bit of his core was jarred by the impact. He shook his head to clear it and looked up, he tasted blood, but there was Death crawling down to him, bringing Lightsaber to hand.

Glass and metal fragments were raining down all around them.

John growled savagely at his opponent and then reached for his Saber. It was not there.

He looked back and it was dangling from the lowest wrung, just hanging off the edge. He cursed to himself and held his hand out stretching towards it.

It flew to him and turned on, swinging it around in an arc of blue energy just as Death was about to impale him head first. He held on tighter with his other hand, forcing Death to swing his Saber up in a feeble parry.

They hung there for a second or two. And then Death brought his Saber down in two diagonal swings, trying to keep the Saber off the rails to avoid doing any more damage. John blocked those easily.

Death roared with fury and threw his Saber in the air deactivating it instantly. He then tackled John around the scruff of the neck forcing them off the bridge.

The air rushed and whistled by the two of them as they fell like fallen birds. They fell and fell, John's neck was craned back by the force and he was busy trying to bring himself around to get out of Death's grip.

Death clutched down harder and grabbed more of John's robes intending to choke him with it. John finally managed to spin around and then slugged Death in the face, being greeted by a satisfying snap of bones.

He was able to swing his elbow around and hit him in the side of the head again, getting Death to loosen the vice like grip on him. This allowed John's hands to swing free and he reached out to the opposite wall of the canyon. He unlodged a large boulder and shot it at his opponent at high speed.

John managed to wrap his feet under Death and pushed off hard. With a gasp Death released John and floated away, only to have the Boulder slam into him at full speed, shooting him into the wall at the other end with a shower of particulate rocks and matter.

John was still in free fall though and he had mere seconds to straighten himself out and prevent the fall from killing himself on the flat surface below.

He straightened himself out and flipped himself over in mid air. He was pointing at the ground reaching out with his hand and with the Force itself, trying to steady his fall. It was working somewhat but not enough for him. He reached out with another hand for a vine letting it come free. Hoping that that he was able to catch it before he hit the bottom.

The vine shot out at him as he slowed down from the other end of the Force he was using. Just a meter from the ground he caught the vine, it jerked him forcibly causing all of his bones to rattle around and his teeth to grimace. He let go, as he dropped to the ground.

He peered up along the canyon rim, all the paths and trails leading their way down to the bottom. He finally saw Death, glaring back down at him with a cold fury.

Death suddenly smiled crookedly and looked skyward. John followed his gaze and saw Death's Lightsaber still falling, slowly, as if it was caught in something.

Death smiled again and reached out, the hilt suddenly changed directions rapidly and shot towards its master's hand.

Death started to run, with the full power of the Force behind him, gathering speed rapidly.

John looked around for his fallen Lightsaber, panicked. He wondered where it was again running out of time.

He found it and held his hand out, the blue blade turned on springing to his hand.

Death leapt sideways at the last second intending to impale him. John wind milled his blade and batted that of Death's out of the way, and used the momentum completing the turn to ready his defense.

The two combatants traded a series of vicious, quick, precise blows on one another trying to gain a brief upper hand. But in the end they both had to separate from one another.

"You have done well John." Death panted slightly, some begrudging admiration leaking through his voice.

"Thanks," John replied sarcastically, but then he used the opening. "Want me to tell you something?"

"Sure." Death smiled bemused.

"It's about Galen." John continued, tensing up.

"Go ahead, tell me about your father." Death sneered.

"He did not do it. Well he did, but only partially." John stuttered.

Death rolled his eyes, "Oh so he only half lied then?"

"Your father told him to get you. Told him to keep you safe, he was only following the wishes of your father and he did so in the best way at the time." John explained. "He was only trying to help you."

"So my father wanted me in the hands of the person who killed him. Why?"

"I don't know that, I do not think I ever will. But the fact remains that Galen thought he was doing what was best." John pleaded, trying one last time to reach out.

Death spat. "What was best? You liar! He manipulated me and the entire situation and now he and the Jedi shall pay for their lack of vision!"

Death then charged and slashed through the air with his Lightsaber. They traded blow after blow, counter slashed as they danced at a furious pace. John was beginning to get on edge trying to keep ahead of it all.

The battle stretched on into infinite and uncountable time as the sun arced high into the sky above them, neither side willing to give an inch, as shadows were beginning to close in around them.

It was not about strategy, it was about action and reaction, and pure instinct, using the Force as a guide as their Lightsabers whizzed through the air, humming viciously.

Their blows were reverberating down the long length of the canyon, bouncing off one rock or the other. John thought he could just barely make out the sounds of rocks being shaken free of their crevices, rolling slightly down the rock face, kicking up dust, the first pebbles of the coming avalanche.

John's Saber slashed down and connected with the hips of Death, he grimaced and moaned as his flesh burned.

Death pulled his hand back and knocked him back with the Force. Flinging him full force into the canyon wall.

John hit the wall with a loud thwack and some of the pebbles around him came loose and spilled around him. He moaned and tried to clear his thread, but blind spots clouded his vision.

His Force sense spiked suddenly and a boulder about the size of him shot through his vision. John held out his hand stopping it just as it was about to plow into him.

He then picked up his Saber with one hand and slashed through the rock, leaving it red and smoldering at this feet. He leapt above it and prepared for the next assault.

Death launched a lightning strike from his hand, John did not have enough time to get his blade up so he caught the blast with his hand, trying to absorb it and hold it there.

He could not manage to, his arm was being tickled and some bolts were shooting up his hand, making him cry out in pain as his arm was taking the brunt of the assault.

He started to cry a bit, from the pain. But it seemed as though the lightning was feeding him, transferring to him, dark energies. Images flooded into his head, washing in and drowning out all other things. Images of his father, images of the good times, and images of him dying.

John yelped and cried out in pain and sadness and pure rage drowned out everything else.

He dropped to one knee, the lightning and the overwhelming power of his bitter rival threatening to destroy him. He was dirty, his robes were stained, and now the air was sizzling around him with pure electricity.

Then Death stopped. He pressed on, limping, favoring his side, but John was tired and wearied as well.

Death came on, John retreated, John was back against the wall.

He yelled out in rage and fury and swung wildly, his Saber positively whistling in the air, Death fell back. Ducking and sliding out of the way, staying one step ahead the now deranged Jedi.

His hair was on end, his eyes were sparking violently, and his arms were tired and were in serious pain, but yet he still charged. No style, just pure kill intensity.

Death was biding his time, thrilled to know that John was raised up into such a fury…until he could strike.

John swung once more and Death deflected the blade with a grunt, but then he brought up his hilt and smacked John in the face. John felt his nose break and blood leak into his mouth, a tooth was chipped and blood was streaming into him from two wounds, he spat it out.

Death swung his blade down, intending to skewer John's left hand. John was just able to side step, but he still got the trailing edge of it. The Saber grazed him but his skin still began to burn and melt and turn black as the high energy beam traveled all along his right arm. He yelped out in pain, and then Death smacked him away, using the Force to lift him into the air and slam him down on the other arm.

John defiantly picked up his active Saber and faced his enemy. John snarled and held his blade up in challenge. Figuring this was his last moment and he might have made a shining last stand.

Death hulked forward, coming in for the kill.

_Calm Calm!_

The voice flooded every part of John's consciousness, he could not recognize it, could not make it out, and he winced as it boomed through his head. But he remembered.

More memories flooded to him. Memories of his training and all the years he spent with Galen. Memories of him extolling, banging into their heads, the constant need for patience. The constant need for the warrior spirit, for the hunter, waiting for his opponent.

Time seemed to slow down slightly as Death continued to sulk in. There really was no time to escape, no place to maneuver, he had to pay for his sins.

But John knew that and he was ready.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again.

Death was right on top of him. He yelled out in victory and triumph, yelled out in one long yell. His eyes widened and his mouth curled upwards, he thrusted the red blade forward intending to impale John through the heart.

John smiled to himself and sidestepped, the blade pierced his shoulder, an orange burn mark appeared on the edge of the hole, and it began to smoke as the blade pierced through to the other side, John grimaced and nearly lost his footing as his legs suddenly went weak.

Death smiled, John had made it hard for him again. He moved to detach his Saber but John beat him to it, he held it fast with his left hand, grabbing onto the hilt with a dead man's grip.

Death jiggled it and tried to rip it from John's grasp.

John gave him a simple smile, Death's eyes widened perceptibly. John took his own Saber in the other hand and slashed in reverse, decapitating Death with a solid thud, the head rolling away.

John turned off the Lightsaber in the shoulder before dropping it, he then turned off his own Saber and began to stumble away.

He lost his footing and fell. He fell face down in the dirt, and then turned to the sky.

He was moaning and breathing hard.

The hours passed, the sun was beating down on him, making him sweat. He could feel the water draining out of him. His throat felt parched, his eyes heavy.

He tried to put together enough moisture in his mouth so that he could spit. He could not. He felt like he was going to die, like he was going to lose it. He was drifting out of consciousness, in and out.

He felt like his time was upon him. He stared up at the sky, arms and legs sprawled straight out.

A small box hovered over the air, it passed lazily in the sky, John barely registered it, and the hum of some kind of mechanical contraption.

He then heard boots on the ground, the grinding of weapons against shoulders, and the shouted orders of men.

A helmeted figure peered down at him, interrupting the sky and blocking out a large portion of it.

"Sir over here!" He waved for his commanding officer to come over.

He then disappeared obviously going to attend to something else.

He then saw what appeared to be Sora look down on him. Worry etched on her face. "Hang on John." The apparition said, and then she left, giving her own orders.

John then could feel two powerful sets of hands lifting him up by the shoulders and trying to get him air born. But he could not help, his legs would not work at all.

They finally managed to get him into a medical bed, the repulsor's depressing slightly from the new weight. It moaned as it lurched forward, for one of the drop ships.

He was safe, he was going to be fine, just as he was about to die his fate had changed, he had gotten a second chance.

And then in the back of his head a voice echoed, lighter this time, more soothing, but oh so reassuring.

_I am proud of you John, I am so proud of you. _


	36. Forward the Future

_The Jedi Temple. _

John was sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed, deep in thought. It had been five weeks since the duel and he was mostly healed. He was placed in a strong Bacta tank and had many treatments, almost too many, he was pushing the envelope of safe medical practices. But that was the only way he could be saved.

Sora had taken care of him, had administered his treatment with an intense obsession. Not letting him die under any circumstance, willing him to stay alive.

It had worked.

But he still had some healing wounds from the battle. His right arm looked as though it had been out in the middle of the Tatooine desert for hours on end.

The sunlight was filtering in through the big, long windows, casting shadows throughout the floor. It was midday.

This provided the perfectly solemn mood for his meditation, to help him concentrate. He was deep in thought, trying to focus on his meditation, trying to calm his mind.

Deep below the surface his emotions were a torrent. He was depressed, guilty, and enraged. But if he was to continue to be a Jedi Knight he had to get a grip on them, get a positive control on them, and learn to grieve in private. He could not show it, but he was still grieving, grieving for his father, and grieving for Death. And trying to discern what the future had in store for him.

A light rapping on the floor caught his attention and brought him out of his reverie.

The Grand Master entered the room, hobbling on the floor slowly over to the young Jedi.

"Nice to see you up, Padawan Zaun." He greeted.

John nodded in return.

"Meditating, you are?" He asked.

"Yes I am." John sighed, trying to get back to it but seeing the Grand Master willed something else.

"Master Yandle, is my name." He explained.

John arched an eyebrow in his direction, surprised.

"Changing things are, in the Jedi Order. About to push for rule changes, the Council is." Master Yandle explained.

"Including the names of the most senior Masters on the Council?" John asked.

"True this is, being proposed by Master Koprende it is." The Grand Master continued.

John was speechless, stunned by this revelation. "Master Koprende? Nealis? That means that.."

"Yes, that it does, Knight Zaun." The Grand Master replied grimly, but with a crooked smile.

John shook his head in disbelief, "wait, Knight Zaun?"

"Yes, now Knight of the Republic you are. Protector of the Republic, passed all the trials you have." The Grand Master grinned.

"I have not even taken the trials yet!" John protested feebly.

"Have taken them, you have, beat Death you did, up for them you were. Your Father, dead he is, your Master, I will use my executive power." Master Yandle was pacing, circling him.

"Why?" John asked, getting his wits back about him.

Master Yandle paused and smiled crookedly. "Great Knight, your father was, like him I did."

John chuckled, "You have never shown any interest in him before. And have been in the past quite rude."

The wizened Jedi smiled amused to himself. "Politics, even among the Jedi, complicated they are."

John smirked and had to stifle a small snort of derision.

"I understand." He finally said when he got his wits back.

_Temple Hallway_

In another corner of the Jedi temple a Republic Marine Lieutenant was moving around the place, lost, down one hallway and up another.

He was dressed in simple combat dress, and he was looking for the Grand Master.

"Excuse me?" He held his arm out for a young Jedi stopping him there, the Jedi turned to him snobbishly.

"Yes?" The young Jedi asked.

"I am looking for the Grand Master, and John Zaun, I need to talk to them." He requested.

"Well it's a good thing that they are in the same place," The Jedi responded stuffily, "meditation room four. Left side of the temple."

"Thank you young Jedi," The Jedi nodded politely before scurrying off.

_Meditation Room_

John was now in deep mediation with Master Yandle, trying to remember his past and the past with his father.

He was interrupted by the opening of another door in the back, both him and Master Yandle turned as one and took in the visitor.

The stranger looked wide eyed at the two of them.

"What do you want?" John asked.

"Right, sorry, I am Lt. Maddux, and I am here to see…well the two of you."

"Why? The Jedi Master asked next.

"Well the military has sent me to beg an audience with the Jedi, about John Zaun." He explained.

"About me?" John returned sounding puzzled.

"Yes. I have come to give you your orders, if the Jedi Order allows it. They want to give you a permanent military position. With the rank of Lieutenant." The officer explained.

"Why?" John asked his puzzlement growing.

"Because you have been an acting Lt. off and on for a while, you have a lot of military experience, and you are a Jedi. That could be vital to any operation." The officer sat down in the only chair.

"Odd request, by the military, this is." Master Yandle came forward.

"Not really. At every time in Jedi and Military history the Jedi Knights have taken a role in the protection of the Galaxy. They have sometimes become warriors, and generals, and officers, and even commanders." The officer lectured.

"This, I know." Grand Master Yandle continued. "But it has not been done in a while." He turned to look at John, "but Master Skywalker did intend for the Jedi to be put in all walks of life. Understand this Lieutenant Jedi he is, above all else."

"Right, we understand this, and we agree with this. But we do need him, and perhaps the first of many." The officer finished.

"Agree with this I do, approve of this I do, controversial this will be. Knight Zaun." Master Yandle turned to regard the Jedi before him. "Understand you do, what has been put before you?"

John nodded.

"Want this you do?" The Master probed.

John regarded the officer. "Should be interesting."

"Splendid," Lt. Maddux offered his hand in congratulations, "welcome on board Lt. Zaun."

John smiled and firmly grasped his hand, and was surprised at the leathery feel. After retracting his own he looked down and in his palm were two rank boards with the rank of Lt. dully engraved in them.

John glanced up and smiled at Maddux.

"Thank you."

Maddux nodded, but then his com link beeped. "Excuse me."

"How does it feel, Knight Zaun?" Master Yandle asked happily.

"Feels good, different." John replied, wondering where he was going to stick the rank insignia.

Maddux turned around back to the two of them, his features were pale and troubled. Alarm and panic was radiating off of him through the Force.

"Lt. Maddux, what do you have to tell us?" Master Yandle asked the troubled Lt.

"The alliance we have been hunting down, that is what they call themselves, they have just declared war on the Republic, it has begun." The Lt. replied breathlessly.

_Coruscant parade grounds and ship section_

John Zaun was standing outside on a balcony of one of the Chancellor's many estates throughout the city world.

This one over looked a large patch of the Planet that was reserved for the launching of ships, either en masse, or just on special occasions.

Today was both of them… it was indeed a special occasion.

The place was packed full of large arrow shaped transports as hundreds and thousands of Republic soldiers lined up in rows and battle lines.

John watched this, but he was not the only one there. The Jedi Council was there, certain key senators, Chancellor Loraan….

And Sora.

She was there watching the spectacle before her with wide eyed wonder, watching the ships and the gathering forces.

She was hanging off of John's arm lightly, having one of her hands on his shoulder and pressing her body to his slightly.

She was shocked and amazed at what was going on.

Though this had happened over and over again, through centuries passed, through wars passed, this very scene had played out a hundred times since.

The first of the ships began to rise in the air with a slight hum and a bang from the engines could be heard as they powered up and detached from the landing pad. First one, then three, then five of them.

The emotion around the assembled group was a surprising mix. A solemn unease coming from the Chancellor and the Jedi council. A bitter depression mixed in the case of the former.

Some of the Senators were curious, some were excited, and some were triumphant at their own political tickets getting punched or they now had more political power. Some were especially pleased with the money being funneled into the planets and their domains.

Sora had a slightly aroused wonder, but John could tell that she also understood the gravity of the decision.

As for John, his feelings were mixed. He was apprehensive, eager to get on with his new life, but solemn. Not only at the events that were transpiring, but at the events of his recent life.

He was now a Knight. But that hardly mattered. Galen was gone, so he no longer had that pillar of wisdom and his advice at the future. Death was gone, his best friend, killed by his own hand.

He was alone in this world.

But he felt a slight tug on his robes and looked to his right. Sora was there, looking as though she had just shifted her weight.

He realized that she was there for him, that they were both good friends and were still close, his only remaining friend in the universe.

With that realization something caught in his throat and he was forced to clear it.

Sora turned to him curiously, staring into his eyes. Then she smiled, it seemed to him to be a knowing smile. John had to fight the urge to blush.

Instead he looked skyward again.

The sky was a burnt orange as the sun was setting, the last of the transports were taking off, the first of them all John could make out was the ion engines burning brightly in the distance.

He pondered on the future, wondering what it would hold and how it would affect him and what adventures and challenges he had waiting for him.

In the distance a pale figure caught his eye, dressed in white robes and shimmering, it appeared to be curiously hovering in mid air, over a factory. One of the ships passed through his vision and by the time it cleared the figure was gone.

John shook his head and watched the last of the ships leave, the first of them were about to go to Hyperspace.

**A/N: So Brings to end part one of what I hope to be a multi part story. It has been a joy, and an education, writing this. This is what I consider to be my first big published work. Granted I have written larger, and published, similar projects of similar and greater scope. **

**I would like to thank Susan for helping me to write it. **

**PJOZ, Amann, and others for reviewing it. **

**To Lee and Michael and Phil for helping me come up with this plot and this universe, and the other dozens of people that helped me form possible plots in my head for this. You are not forgotten. **

**To my Dad. For being supportive of me in this, and all my other silly endeavors. And for providing the occasional technical help. **

**It has been fun, hope to pick up the Saga in **_**War and Adventure.**_** Coming soon. **

**And I also highly recommend Amann's story **_**Golden Dawn**_** to anyone who liked and enjoyed reading this. **


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